- Lowest number of Mortgage Approvals since records began.
- In a breaking report from the Bank of England only 64,000 mortgages were approved last month.
- Tue 29th Apr 2008
- Are the Banks getting greedy?
- In a test case in the High Court today, 8 UK Banks may be deemed to have be charging their customers unfairly.
- Thu 24th Apr 2008
- Comparison websites under the hot spotlight.
- The centre for competition policy has produced a report saying independent checks need to be made of comparison websites.
- Sat 12th Apr 2008
Life insurance fraud minimal, says expert
Mon 10 Dec 2007 3pm
An expert from the insurance industry has said that fraudulent practice in the life insurance sector is relatively uncommon.Despite the high-profile case of John and Anne Darwin recently bringing life insurance fraud into the public eye, Jonathan French claimed that there are "very low levels" of criminal activity based around such products.
The spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers said that the Darwin case had arisen from "a very unusual set of circumstances" and that the industry has established procedures to "minimise" the risk of fraud.
"Insurance companies will carry out careful checks where it is appropriate to make sure fraudulent activity does not slip through the net," Mr French stated.
He also explained that insurance firms will usually pay out on life insurance policies when there is "sufficient and substantial evidence" that a person has passed away, even if there is no body or death certificate, as in the case of the Asian tsunami in 2004.
In a case that has fascinated the British public, John Darwin reported himself as a missing person in London on December 1st, having been presumed dead for five years. Mr Darwin and his wife Anne are now suspected of fraud after it emerged that a £25,000 life insurance policy was cashed in after his disappearance.
