Ghost broking

Ghost broking is where an individual or group illegally sets themselves up to appear as though they’re a genuine insurance broker.

Ghost brokers trick members of the public into thinking they can get cheap insurance deals in return for a fee. But in reality, they leave their victims with insurance policies that are not legal or with no insurance at all.

How the scam works...

Typically, policies are bought from legitimate insurance companies using false information (often false addresses) and then changed before being sold on to victims. Ghost brokers may also create fake policy documents that are designed to look like they’ve been issued by legitimate insurance companies and then sold to victims.

Either way, the victim will be left with a policy that is not worth the paper it’s written on.

The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) is a specialist police unit dedicated to tackling insurance fraud across England and Wales. Funded by members of the Association of British Insurers and Lloyd’s of London, and hosted by the City of London Police, the team acts with operational independence while working closely with the insurance industry.
Since the launch of IFED in January 2012, the unit has dealt with over 1,500 suspects, convicted more than 200 insurance fraudsters at court and over 100 years’ jail sentences have been handed down to insurance fraudsters including a woman who lied about her mother having a stroke to gain £30k insurance payouts.
According to 2014 figures, the Association of British Insurers estimates that fraud adds, on average, an extra £50 to the annual insurance for every UK policyholder.

What is ghost broking?