Bogus insurance claims worth more than £230m were detected by the insurance firm Aviva last year as scammers tried new tricks including using artificial intelligence to fake car accident scenes, documents and to exaggerate damage.

The insurer identified more than 18,400 suspect claims across its brands in 2025, with a combined value of £233m. The fraud claims level was a record for the insurer, although this was the first year that it included the Direct Line brands it acquired last summer.

Pete Ward, the head of claims counter fraud at Aviva, said fraud “isn’t a victimless crime – it drives up the cost of insurance for everyone”. He added: “We’re seeing fraud become more sophisticated, from exaggerated claims to the use of AI‑generated documents.”

Looking at Aviva’s UK general insurance business only, excluding Direct Line brands, motor insurance fraud accounted for most bogus claims detected, representing more than seven in 10 cases.

Fraudsters were moving away from staged collisions and towards exaggerated claims for vehicle damage, repair costs, credit hire and injury, often using wider cost pressures as justification, the insurer said. As a result, the value of motor fraud detected rose by 39%.

The insurer also reported a growing number of claims supported by AI‑generated images and manipulated documents, particularly in motor insurance, with fraudsters using AI tools to fabricate accident scenes and damage imagery. In response, the company is using AI tools and advanced analytics, overseen by humans, to thwart suspicious claims faster.

Aviva said that in total, 37 years of custodial and suspended sentences were secured in 2025 for the most serious fraud offences across the Aviva and Direct Line brands.

In one incident, fraudsters deliberately caused a collision so they could make inflated injury and temporary replacement vehicle claims worth £470,000. Video evidence showed that none of the witnesses in court were present at the incident, resulting in two sisters being convicted of conspiracy to defraud, and one of them receiving an immediate prison sentence.

The company also detected a rise in opportunistic fraud within genuine home and travel insurance claims. Fraud in home insurance among Aviva’s brands rose by 15% in 2025, where customers exaggerated the value of damage, repairs or contents. Entire insurance claims are rejected once fraud is uncovered.