Claims farming, the practice of contacting prospective claimants and encouraging them to make a claim for financial gain, has come to the fore during the pandemic. Suspiciously, of 45 newly incorporated companies between February and March containing either ‘Covid’ or ‘Corona’ within their name, 11% had names which suggested they were operating as claims management companies (CMCs).5

One CMC’s incorporation was recorded as early as 13 March – the day after the UK risk level was increased from moderate to high. While reputable CMCs do exist (and are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or Solicitors’ Regulation Authority), others are less scrupulous and use methods such as cold calling, social media or Google adverts to target vulnerable people, or those who have contracted Covid-19. The latter of these methods operates on the basis of fraudsters paying search engine companies to appear at the top of listings in search results, often using a legitimate insurance firm’s branding to appear authentic. In other cases, the unsuspecting customer in a motor accident can be held liable for vehicle repair costs which they believed were being handled for free as part of their insurance service.