Key facts
- Matthew Johnson was sentenced to 28 months in prison for submitting false insurance claims.
- Johnson received over £14,000 in insurance payouts for items including collectible Lego sets, gaming consoles, and fishing gear.
- The Association of British Insurers (ABI) reported £1.34 billion of fraud in 2025, a 14% increase year-on-year.
- The average value of a fraudulent claim reached £14,300 in 2025.
- Motor insurance accounted for 55% of all fraudulent claims, worth £625 million.
- The number of detected fraudulent claims fell by 2.7% to 93,900 cases in 2025.
A UK insurance fraudster who staged a scam involving collectible Lego sets, fishing gear, and gaming consoles has been sentenced to prison, highlighting a significant increase in the value of fraudulent claims in the UK. Matthew Johnson was sentenced to 28 months in December after submitting false claims totaling over £14,000 to Axa Insurance between May 2021 and January 2022, relating to alleged burglaries.
Investigators uncovered £1.34 billion of fraud in 2025, a 14% increase on the previous year, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The ABI and police warned that insurance fraud increases premiums for all customers. Mark Allen, head of fraud and financial crime at the ABI, stated that committing insurance fraud has serious consequences, including criminal conviction and imprisonment.
While the number of detected fraudulent claims fell by 2.7% to 93,900 cases last year, the value of scams rose sharply, indicating growing scale and sophistication. The average value of a fraudulent claim reached £14,300 last year, the second-highest figure on record. Motor insurance remained the most targeted area, accounting for 55% of all cases, with 51,900 fraudulent motor claims worth £625 million uncovered. The ABI noted that scammers are using new tactics, including artificial intelligence to fake car accident scenes and documents.
Simon Klust, who heads the City of London police fraud team, indicated that the over 250 bogus claims detected daily are likely "just the tip of the iceberg." The travel sector saw the sharpest rise in bogus claims, with a £300,000 scam involving multiple fake identities and fabricated documents uncovered. Exaggerated loss, where a claimant deliberately increases the cost of a claim beyond its true value, remains the most common type of fraud, with 26,900 cases identified.