An insurance fraud is detected in the UK every minute, according to research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The figures show that last year 562,000 frauds were detected by insurers, including 113,000 fraudulent claims and 449,000 dishonest insurance applications.

Fraudulent claims were valued at £1.3 billion ($2.28 billion), up 1% on the previous year.

However, the number of organised frauds, such as staged motor accidents, fell 22% thanks to work by the Insurance Fraud Bureau and the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, which has secured more than 400 court convictions since its formation in 2006.

Insurers detected 449,000 cases of confirmed or suspected application fraud, where people lied or withheld information to try to get cheaper cover.

Motor insurance made up the bulk of dishonest applications, with typical lies relating to occupations and driving records, with previous claims and motoring convictions not disclosed.

Some of the scams uncovered included:

• A cyclist claimed £135,000 ($236,993) compensation from a council for injuries he said he sustained when he hit a pothole. However, evidence showed the accident happened on a slippery road at another location. He was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
• A bodybuilder who claimed £150,000 ($263,326) for a back injury was exposed when he was filmed doing a press-up challenge. He was ordered to pay £35,000 ($61,443) in legal costs.
• The ringleader of a gang who staged a bus crash to get £500,000 ($877,753) in insurance payouts for fake injuries was jailed and banned from driving for two years. He used a rental car to stage the crash, following which eight of his fellow fraudsters on the bus claimed for fake injuries to necks and hips.
• A student was convicted after attempting to claim £14,000 ($24,577) through six invented claims following a trip to Venice, including the loss of an iPod, laptop and designer watch.
• A four-and-a-half-year police investigation into a huge crash-for-cash staged accident operation in south Wales – which netted the ringleaders £2 million ($3.5 million) – led to the convictions of 150 people.