It’s no easy feat to secure affordable insurance policies for cars and motorcycles in Italy. In fact, falling victim to insurance scams seems to have become increasingly prevalent. According to a recent study commissioned by Facile.it and conducted by mUp Research and Norstat, it has been reported that over 2.3 million Italians have been scammed or have been at risk of being scammed in the past year while trying to secure a contract for car and motorcycle insurance.
The findings of the study are indeed alarming, especially when compared to the previous year’s data. The percentage of individuals who have fallen victim to or have experienced an attempted scam has reportedly increased by 300%, resulting in an estimated loss of around €700 million.
Moreover, in the span of a year, insurance premiums have also seen a substantial increase. Car insurance premiums have gone up by 31.5%, reaching €610.87 last month, while motorcycle insurance costs have risen by 41.4%, with the average premium now standing at €572.97.
The surge in insurance fraud could be attributed to the substantial increase in prices, as suggested by Andrea Ghizzoni, Managing Director of Insurance at Facile.it. Ghizzoni stated, “Such a significant increase in fraud within such a short period of time can also be interpreted in relation to the price hikes experienced by motorists and motorcyclists when subscribing to a policy and the subsequent desire to seek savings, unfortunately, not always relying on secure methods.”
The majority of fraud cases are carried out through the internet (42%), with fraudulent emails containing direct links to so-called “clone sites,” which are fraudulent web pages that, at first glance, may appear to be similar to official websites. In 1 out of 4 cases, individuals have fallen victim to fake call centers, a method that has seemingly become more widespread, with cases doubling compared to the previous investigation, now at 23%. Other channels for fraud include SMS (21%) and door-to-door approaches (20%).
Disturbingly, 48% of individuals who have been scammed do not report the incident (amounting to approximately 1.2 million people), a figure that has increased compared to the previous study, which recorded a non-reporting rate of 41.7%. Reasons for not reporting incidents vary, with the most common being the reluctance to inform family and acquaintances, accounting for 31.3% of cases. This is closely followed by a sense of guilt for falling victim to the scam (27.1%), considering the incident not worth reporting due to low financial loss (20.8%), and disillusionment regarding the possibility of receiving compensation (16.7%).
The statistics paint a worrisome picture of the prevalence of insurance fraud in Italy, with an increasing number of individuals falling victim to scams and a significant reluctance to report such incidents. It is essential for relevant authorities and insurance providers to address these concerns and implement measures to combat the rise in fraudulent activities.