‘All walks of life’: A profile of household insurance fraudsters in the United Kingdom

This article provides a profile of a household insurance fraudster based on an analysis of 33 189 dishonest household insurance claims identified by VFM Ltd (a claims handling company using conversation management as an investigative tool). Analysis of the dishonest claims showed marked differences in the profile of fraudsters to some of the published profiles of occupational fraudsters. There is greater gender equality and a wider range of occupations among insurance fraudsters with a peak age range in the 30–50 age groups. Claims made are also generally of low value, less than £500. This article offers insights on the goods claimed, the explanations offered and the seasonality of claiming behaviour. This article suggests household insurance fraud can be linked to Routine Activity Theory and that more research is needed to investigate this further.