Insurance fraud warning

Consumers are increasingly aware that they could face tough penalties if they lie when making an insurance claim, a new survey has found,

A study, carried out by RSA, found that 74 per cent of people think that making a false claim on their home insurance, or other policy, could result in having their policy rendered void.

However, 1.2 million Britons still do not think it is wrong to lie or exaggerate when making an insurance claim .

John Beadle, RSA's counter fraud manager, warned that companies are getting better at detecting fraud and will soon be able to monitor people's behaviour across a range of financial products.

He said: So if a person commits fraud on an insurance claim and is detected, other financial services companies, such as mortgage lenders and credit card providers, will know and that will have an impact on the success of their application.

Yesterday, Halifax Home Insurance announced that customers have until the end of May to take advantage of the firm's Beat and Freeze deal.