Aviva has detected a record ÂŁ233 million worth of insurance fraud in 2025, showing how artificial intelligence, deepfake evidence and ghost broking are reshaping the threat facing the UK insurance market.
The insurer said it identified more than 18,400 suspicious claims across Aviva and Direct Line brands, the first combined fraud figures following Aviva’s acquisition of Direct Line. The total means more than £638,000 in attempted fraud was stopped every day.
Pete Ward, head of claims counter fraud at Aviva, said fraud is not a victimless crime because it increases the cost of insurance for everyone. He said fraudsters are now using more sophisticated methods, from exaggerated claims to AI-generated documents.
Motor Claims Remain the Biggest Fraud Area
Motor insurance accounted for more than seven in 10 fraudulent claims detected by Aviva. The insurer said criminals are moving away from staged collisions and focusing more on inflated repair costs, vehicle damage, credit hire and injury claims.
The value of detected motor fraud increased 39% year-on-year as Aviva identified more high-value inflation attempts. Liability fraud also became more expensive, with detected claim values increasing 32% due to exaggerated loss of earnings, rehabilitation costs and injury claims.
Home insurance fraud increased 15%, often when customers inflated damage, repair or contents values within otherwise genuine claims. Travel insurance fraud also increased, with suspicious medical and cancellation claims supported by documents that failed verification checks.
Aviva also pointed to the role of professional enablers, including some loss assessors accused of inflating repair costs, contents values and scopes of work in property claims.
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AI Deepfakes and Ghost Broking Add New Pressure
Aviva said it is detecting more claims supported by AI-generated images and manipulated documents, particularly in motor insurance. In some cases, fraudsters are fabricating accident scenes and damage imagery to support false or inflated claims.
The concern comes as the UK government predicted eight million deepfakes would be shared in 2025, compared with 500,000 in 2023. Deepfake use in biometric fraud attempts increased 58%, while injection attacks increased 40% year-on-year.
Insurance fraud is increasingly overlapping with wider digital crime, where criminals use artificial intelligence to create convincing fake documents, identities and online evidence. Similar risks have appeared in digital scams driven by AI fraud and identity theft.
Aviva also detected more than 105,000 fraudulent insurance applications in 2025, with ghost broking accounting for a growing share. Ghost brokers pose as legitimate insurance intermediaries and sell fake or invalid policies, often through TikTok, other social media platforms and messaging apps.
The Insurance Fraud Bureau tracked a 52% increase in ghost broking cases between 2022 and 2024, while Aviva recorded a 22% increase since 2023. The Financial Conduct Authority has warned that drivers aged 17 to 25 are among the main targets. Official guidance on checking firms and avoiding fake policies is available from the Financial Conduct Authority.
The impact can be severe. Victims may unknowingly drive without valid insurance, while losses from collisions can fall on the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and the wider market through levies and higher premiums. Aviva also warned that personal data collected by fraudsters may be sold on the dark web, increasing the risk of identity fraud.
The wider UK industry is already under pressure. Insurers detected ÂŁ1.16 billion of fraudulent claims in 2024, with cases increasing 12% to 98,400. Motor insurance fraud alone is estimated to add between ÂŁ50 and ÂŁ60 to every UK policy across 33 million vehicles.
The industry response is being coordinated through the Insurance Fraud Bureau’s five-year Connected to Protect strategy, while the UK government’s Fraud Strategy 2026 to 2029 includes £250 million of investment and a new Online Crime Centre to support data sharing and law enforcement coordination.
For insurers, the challenge is shifting from simply paying valid claims to actively detecting fraud risks earlier. For customers, the warning is clear: unusually cheap insurance, social media brokers, rushed payments and requests for personal data should be treated with caution.
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