A sobering new survey from nationwide luxury car dealership LexusNexus lists various ways of massaging your motor insurance application to secure a more competitive quotation.
It also reveals exactly what percentages of people think each of the suggested strategies sounds like a good idea.
Shockingly, 35% of UK motor drivers agree that not mentioning some of the dodgier parts of one’s recent driving history is something they’d be happy to try for themselves.
Clearly the message is starting to get through, because, last time LexusNexus checked (in 2013), just 26% of motorists said they thought it was a good idea to omit inconvenient details.
With around 24 million motor policies sold in the UK each year, LexusNexus calculate that more than eight million motorists commit application fraud annually in this country.
This rampant tide of mendacity also extends to claims fraud, with 14% breezily opining that blaming self inflicted damage on fictitious hit and runners is basically fair enough, really.
Astoundingly, almost ten percent of people believe it is OK to “exagerate the severity of personal injuries” to fund holidays, curvy-screen tellies, or spiralling credit card debts.
Alarmingly, almost six out of ten people said they probably wouldn’t bother telling their insurers that their premiums need putting up when they’ve had an accident but not made a claim.
Commenting on these findings, Dr Alfred Necessiter of consultancy Statistical Objectivity Direct suggested that – alarming as these numbers may seem – the true situation may be even worse.
Necessiter told industry journal Insurance Week that “people have a natural reluctance to speak truthfully when self-incrimination may result: the so-called politicians’ reflex.”
The actual numbers lying when applying, Necesiter argues, are likely to be at least twice those reported in surveys such as that carried out by LexusNexus.
It’s encouraging, at least, that more and more people these days are happy to discuss their vile deceptions frankly and openly with people claiming to be carrying out anonymous surveys.
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