UK insurers to fund police anti-fraud unit | Reuters

"The 35-strong force is tasked with tackling a crime that costs the insurance industry 2 billion pounds a year, adding 44 pounds to the average consumer's premium payments, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
An ABI spokesman said figures for 2009, the most recent available, showed that between 4 and 5 percent of insurance claims were fraudulent, an increase on the previous year.
Insurance fraud typically rises during economic downturns as cash-strapped individuals and businesses seek to bolster their income by filing exaggerated or wholly fictitious claims.
Some of the recent increase in insurance fraud could also reflect improved detection rates, the ABI spokesman said.
The new police unit will form part of the economic crime directorate of the City of London police, which oversees the capital's financial district, and will be up and running in January 2012."

Via UK insurers to fund police anti-fraud unit | Reuters