Insurance fraud is a serious crime in the UK & it is big business. It’s estimated that it costs the industry upwards of £1billion a year &, here at Marshmallow, we're working hard to bring that down.


Some people might unknowingly commit insurance fraud so it’s important to know what the rules are. Below are 4 of the most common types of fraud we encounter:

  1. Misrepresentation: This can take many forms. It could be anything from misrepresenting your occupation, your risk address, or even your car purchase date, for example. Making a few 'minor tweaks' to either enable you to buy a policy (when you might otherwise have been refused) or to get a reduced insurance premium, is commonly known as quote manipulation.  It could result in your policy being declared void & your insurer refusing to pay out in the event of a claim.
 We might request additional documents from our customers, this is simply to ensure we have all the right information on file.
  2. Withholding information: Before the payment stage, customers are asked to confirm that the details they have provided are accurate. You would be committing insurance fraud if you didn't disclose all the information we need to make an accurate assessment of your risk. Examples of this could be: not declaring a previous cancellation, a motoring conviction, a previous accident, or an outstanding CCJ.

  3. Fronting: This is when someone is added to a car insurance policy as a named driver when they are, in fact, the main driver. Parents might use this as a way of getting cheaper car insurance for their children. It will inevitably reduce the cost of insuring a young driver but please - take note - it is actually illegal.
  4. Part-time work: If you have a part-time job, even on an ad-hoc temporary basis, please, please check in with us. It's likely there will be instances where we can't cover the additional occupation. This will mean we won't be able to continue to insure you, & you will need to look for alternative cover elsewhere.



In summary, honesty is the best policy. Always let your insurer know if your circumstances have changed. If you move house or change jobs or if there is any other material change, you must let us know. If you are in any doubt please do contact us & one of the team will be delighted to help.

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