14 August 2014 Insurance

One in five Brits lie to insurers: Zurich

One-in-five Brits admit to lying to their insurance company, despite a separate 82 percent knowing that wrong information registered on an insurance form can render the policy invalid.

This is the finding in report by insurer Zurich, which polled 2,000 adults in the UK.

Zurich said that one in 10 knowingly lie because “we are scared of the consequences of being totally truthful, while just under a third (29.3 percent) of us lie as we are unsure of the correct information or didn’t understand the process to begin with – 8 percent even admitting to lying as they don’t take the process seriously.”

However, despite five years of recession forcing people to tighten their belts, the research also found 87 percent of people would not lie to an official body (e.g. police, accountant, council, mobile phone network) in order to save money.

Phil Ost, Zurich home insurance expert, said: “It’s really encouraging that most people don’t feel it’s acceptable to lie to save money and honesty really is the best policy when it comes to things like jobs and insurance. The consequences of being found out can be severe and maybe invalidate a policy and potentially result in claims not being paid.”

Dr Patrick Fagan, lecturer in consumer behaviour, Goldsmiths University, added: “People lie about all sorts of things – from their weight to their employment experience – but the ‘white’ lie is still the most prevalent. There is a feeling that the more irrelevant the lie, the less severe the consequences, but this just isn’t true. I think we’d all agree that a little frugality with the truth to avoid upsetting someone is fine, but it’s interesting to see that there are still a sizeable group of people who’d be dishonest in more serious and formal situations.”

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