This page collects the published figures on insurance fraud in Australia. Its rule is simple. Every number comes with who published it, when, and exactly what it covers, and if we could not trace a figure to its source, we say so rather than repeat it.
Last checked: 12 October 2026.
The short answer
We found no reliable figure for the total cost of insurance fraud in Australia. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says on its consumer fraud page that an estimate of the value of undetected insurance fraud in the Australian market is not yet available.¹ The best-sourced figure is what insurers detected. The ICA reported that in 2023 its members detected $560 million of opportunistic insurance fraud in motor and property claims alone, and in the same release it estimated that undetected fraud costs the industry around $400 million a year.² On what happens to claims that are investigated, ASIC has published detailed data. In a review of 1.6 million comprehensive car insurance claims at five insurers, September 2016 to September 2017, insurers investigated 1.1% of claims, and 4% of the investigated claims were declined for fraud.³ In that sample, most investigated claims were paid.
What insurers report detecting
- $560 million. Opportunistic fraud detected by ICA members in 2023, motor and property claims only. A detected amount, not a total. The release’s own wording is “$560 million cases”. Source: ICA news release², 21 May 2024.
- Around $400 million a year. The ICA’s estimate of what undetected fraud costs the insurance industry. An estimate; the release gives no method, period or scope. Source: ICA news release², 21 May 2024.
- No estimate available. The ICA’s consumer page says an estimate of the value of undetected insurance fraud in the Australian market “is not yet available”. Source: ICA consumer page¹, No date shown; read 12 October 2026.
The two ICA statements do not agree. The 2024 release gives an estimate of undetected fraud and the consumer page says none is available. We show both rather than choose. The $560 million covers opportunistic fraud only, so it leaves out premeditated and organised fraud, other lines of insurance, and insurers outside ICA membership. Our article on insurance fraud in Australia explains the opportunistic and premeditated split.
What happens to claims that are investigated
- 1.6 million claims. Comprehensive car insurance claims at five insurers, September 2016 to September 2017, in aggregate data collected by ASIC. Source: ASIC Report 621³, July 2019.
- 4.85%. Share of those claims that insurers flagged as suspicious. Source: ASIC Report 621³, July 2019.
- 1.1% (17,587 claims). Share of those claims that insurers investigated. Source: ASIC Report 621³, July 2019.
- 71%. Share of investigated claims that were paid. Source: ASIC Report 621³, July 2019.
- 4%. Share of investigated claims declined for fraud. Source: ASIC Report 621³, July 2019.
- 10%. Share of investigated claims declined for other reasons. Source: ASIC Report 621³, July 2019.
- 15%. Share of investigated claims withdrawn. Source: ASIC Report 621³, July 2019.
The data is now about nine years old and covers car insurance at five insurers only. ASIC left out the 0.6% of investigated claims that were still undecided when it collected the data. A withdrawn claim is not a confirmed fraud, and a declined claim is not a conviction. The figures say nothing about fraud that was never flagged. The Code of Practice now sets standards for these investigations; see the General Insurance Code of Practice and claims fraud.
Compulsory third party schemes
- 3. Fraud cases MAIC successfully prosecuted in the Queensland CTP scheme in 2024-25. Source: MAIC Annual Report 2024-25⁴, 25 September 2025.
- 14. Additional fraud referrals MAIC assessed in 2024-25. Source: MAIC Annual Report 2024-25⁴, 25 September 2025.
- $75 per Green Slip. The increase that fraudulent claims were contributing to each NSW Green Slip, according to NSW Government data reported in March 2016. We have not read the government document itself. Source: Insurance Business, reporting NSW Government data⁵, 4 March 2016.
CTP covers personal injury from road accidents and each state runs its own scheme, so these figures cannot be compared across states or with the ICA’s general insurance figures. Of the state regulators, only Queensland published a fraud count we could read today.
Prosecutions and penalties
- Up to 10 years. The ICA’s general description of the maximum penalty for insurance fraud: imprisonment for up to 10 years, a substantial fine, or both. Actual maximums differ by state and territory. Source: ICA consumer page¹, No date shown; read 12 October 2026.
- 5 parties; one fined $1 million. Parties MAIC had prosecuted for claim farming offences in Queensland in total, as reported in its 2024-25 annual report, one of them a company fined $1 million. MAIC says that 2022 case was Australia’s first successful claim farming prosecution. Source: MAIC Annual Report 2024-25⁴; MAIC legal action page⁶, 25 September 2025; page updated 16 July 2026.
- 28, down from over 1,300. Claim farming complaints made to MAIC in 2024-25, against 2019. Source: MAIC Annual Report 2024-25⁴, 25 September 2025.
MAIC defines claim farming as cold-calling people to solicit or induce personal injury claims. It is an offence in Queensland and is not the same as claims fraud. Charges and arrests are allegations until a court decides. MAIC publishes individual case studies with the sentence in each.
What consumers say
We found no dated Australian survey from an insurer or industry body on attitudes to exaggerating claims that we could verify at source. Surveys from comparison sites and one undated travel insurer survey are quoted in the press. We have left them out until a dated primary is available. The exaggerated claims article covers the behaviour itself.
What we could not find
In the sources we checked, we could not find:
- The total cost of insurance fraud in Australia. We found no published figure that covers every line, every insurer and both detected and undetected fraud.
- A detected fraud figure for any year after 2023, or a breakdown of the 2023 figure by motor and property, by number of claims, or by insurer.
- How the ICA’s estimate of around $400 million in undetected fraud was made.
- How often investigated claims are found to be fraud in any line other than comprehensive car insurance, or at any time after 2017.
- CTP fraud figures for states other than Queensland that we could confirm at source today.
- A national count of insurance fraud prosecutions or convictions.
Figures we could not trace
Two numbers are often repeated. We do not use either.
- “More than $2 billion a year”. Usually attributed to the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Australia. The bureau’s former web address now leads to the ICA’s consumer page, which carries no such figure and says an estimate of undetected fraud is not yet available.¹ More on the bureau’s role is in the IFBA article.
- “$560 million a year”. The ICA’s figure is sometimes repeated as an annual cost. The ICA’s own release gives it as fraud detected in 2023 in motor and property claims.² It is not a yearly total.
How this page is kept
We check every figure on this page against its source at least twice a year, and sooner when the ICA, ASIC or a state regulator publishes new data. If a figure is wrong, out of date or missing, please tell us and we will correct it and note the change. The motor insurance fraud and staged accidents articles carry the wider picture.
Sources & further reading
¹ Insurance Council of Australia, Insurance fraud (consumer page), https://insurancecouncil.com.au/consumers/insurance-fraud/ (no publication date shown; read 12 October 2026)
² Insurance Council of Australia, Insurance industry boosts fight against fraud and scams, news release, 21 May 2024, https://insurancecouncil.com.au/resource/insurance-industry-boosts-fight-against-fraud-and-scams/
³ Australian Securities and Investments Commission, REP 621 Roadblocks and roundabouts: A review of car insurance claim investigations, July 2019, https://download.asic.gov.au/media/5422526/rep621-published-4july2019.pdf (pages 2 and 3)
⁴ Motor Accident Insurance Commission (Qld), Annual Report 2024-25, https://maic.qld.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/MAIC-annual-report-2024-25.pdf (page 13); landing page published 25 September 2025
⁵ Insurance Business Australia, Government taskforce to crack down on CTP insurance fraud, 4 March 2016, reporting NSW Government data.
⁶ Motor Accident Insurance Commission (Qld), MAIC takes legal action against fraud and scams, https://maic.qld.gov.au/about-ctp-insurance/fraud-and-scams/MAIC-legal-action/ (last updated 16 July 2026)
