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New research for Liberty Insurance suggests a serious discrepancy in what constitutes insurance fraud between 17- to 29-year-old drivers and their older peers, writes Trish Whelan.

The research has shown that younger drivers are ‘more fluid’ in their interpretation of insurance fraud compared to older drivers, but are ignoring the consequences.

Liberty Insurance’s Driving Motor Insurance Reform event held in Dublin early today, brought together leading Irish and international motor insurance experts to debate the challenges and a ctions needed to successfully deliver motor insurance reform. 

With the rise in claims culture, 82 per cent of Irish drivers believe a ‘claims culture’ is more prevalent in Ireland today than it was ten years ago, while 88 per cent think those who submit false claims should face harsher penalties.

Despite this, few are willing to blow the whistle on insurance fraud. Some 44 per cent would not out of fear of being found out, increasing to 51 per cent among those aged 25-34. 

Conducted by Red C Research among 750 drivers, the survey found that 32 per cent of young drivers consider being untruthful about the primary driver of their car to be ‘mild’ insurance fraud or not fraud at all; this compares to 19 per cent of all adult drivers.

Additionally, some 56 per cent of young drivers consider being untruthful about your profession to be mild insurance fraud or not fraud at all, and 58 per cent say the same about providing a false estimate of the number of kilometres driven per year.

But almost half, 46 per cent of all respondents said that being untruthful with your insurer about the number of penalty points on your license constitutes ‘extreme fraud’. And 43 per cent say providing your insurer with false information about your driving experience is also extreme fraud.

On consequences, in such cases, being untruthful about the primary driver, your profession, annual mileage or penalty points when applying for car insurance constitutes fraud. If detected, it may prevent an individual from securing insurance cover in the future or invalidate a claim.