One in seven motorists has lied to their car insurance company in order to reduce premiums, a new survey has revealed.

According to research by insurer Salaam Halal, some 14% of drivers admitted that they or their partner had deliberately submitted false information in order to benefit from cheaper insurance.

The worst culprits came from Wales, where 21% of drivers admitted they were likely to lie when applying for insurance. People living in the East of England were most truthful, with only 10% of motorists providing false applications.

People most commonly lied about the location of their car when applying for insurance, with 39% of those who had been dishonest claiming they parked their car in a garage, when in fact they kept it outside.

One in 20 people also failed to submit details of modifications that had been made to their vehicles, such as spoilers or customised wheels.

People were also dishonest when it came to applying for home insurance, with 31% deliberately undervaluing the value of their possessions, while 8% told insurers they had a burglar alarm fitted when they did not.

Around 3% of people failed to disclose previous claims they had made when submitting their insurance application.

Bradley Brandon Cross, chief executive of Salaam Halal, said: “We can appreciate the temptation to try a few shortcuts in order to get the best deal on insurance, but people may not realise the consequences of their actions.

“Deliberately withholding information, or submitting inaccurate details, can render your insurance invalid.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 8:15 am and is filed under Car Insurance, Home Insurance, Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.