Insurers Expose £1.3bn In Fraudulent Claims

A record £1.3bn worth of fraudulent insurance claims were uncovered last year as the industry continues to crack down on cheats.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said some £3.5m worth of dishonest claims are uncovered every day.

The figures show an 18% increase in the value of fraudulent claims detected in 2012.

In 2013, some 118,599 fraudulent or exaggerated claims were detected, the equivalent of more than 2,000 each week.

Motor insurance claims were the most expensive and common dishonest claims to be uncovered.

The average value of fraud detected across all kinds of insurance products was £10,813.

Aidan Kerr, the ABI's assistant director, said: "The message is clear: never has it been harder to get away with committing insurance fraud.

"Never have the penalties - ranging from a custodial sentence and a criminal record, to difficulties in obtaining financial products in the future - been so severe."

The ABI says the figures also reveal a "significant" rise in the number of people reporting suspected fraudsters.

Calls from members of the public reporting frauds to the Insurance Fraud Bureau's "cheatline" rose by one third (32%) in 2013 compared with the previous year.

Malcolm Tarling, a spokesman for the ABI, said the industry has also seen an increase in the number of "staged accidents".

This dangerous practice sees fraudsters cause deliberate accidents, often with innocent motorists, in order to cause injuries and claim insurance.

"Staged accidents, which are extremely serious, involve criminal gangs deliberately staging an accident, normally involving an innocent motorist," Mr Tarling said.

"These are increasingly becoming more commonplace and the industry is actively working very hard to crack down on them."

One insurer, AA Insurance, said it identifies more than 100 fraud attempts each week.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: "These figures are encouraging because they reflect the growing success of the insurance industry in the war against fraud, rather than more fraud taking place.

"This should send a strong signal to anyone thinking of trying it on."

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Thousands Remember Inspirational Stephen

By Rhiannon Mills, News Correspondent

Thousands of people have queued outside Lichfield Cathedral to pay their respects to cancer fundraiser Stephen Sutton ahead of his funeral.

A two-day vigil began on Thursday and will continue until this afternoon with many more expected to sign the book of condolence.

His family will hold a private funeral later where they will say their final goodbyes, but at 11am his mother Jane has asked people to join in a "Thumbs Up For Stephen" event, and "do something to make others happy".

Millions of people across the world have been inspired by Stephen's courage facing terminal cancer.

A 'Thumbs Up For Stephen' event has been planned

The teenager, from Burntwood in Staffordshire, had originally launched his fundraising appeal hoping to raise £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, but just hours before the vigil began the total had reached more than £4m.

As his hearse arrived on Thursday evening, drawn by four white horses, there was spontaneous applause from the crowd. A bright yellow wreath bearing the icon of a smiley face lay beside the white coffin.

Leading the vigil the Dean of Lichfield, the Very Reverend Adrian Dorber, told the gathered mourners Stephen "in his all too brief life" had taught "how to make the unacceptable, beautiful".

He said: "He chose to share his exuberance with us, not his pain. He was one of those very rare people who've helped us live our lives with generosity."

Julia Hayburn, assistant headteacher at Stephen's former school, Chase Terrace Technology College, said: "Words like awesome, awe-inspiring and inspirational became synonymous with Stephen.

There was spontaneous applause as the hearse carrying Stephen arrived

"But they only touched the surface of what he has become on a national and international scale."

Stephen died on May 14 after succumbing to multiple tumours.

The Teenage Cancer Trust's chief executive Siobhan Dunn said Stephen's memory would "never be forgotten" because it would live on through the work of the charity.

She added: "I think it's really important there's a public celebration of Stephen's life and I think that's exactly what he would have wanted.

"He was looking for us to put the fun into his funeral so hopefully we're going to do that."

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Lord Rennard Is Told To 'Leave Public Life'

Pressure is piling on Nick Clegg to expel Lord Rennard from the Liberal Democrat party after he finally apologised to four women who accused him of sexual harassment.

The ex-chief executive of the party had previously refused to say sorry having maintained his innocence over allegations that he had behaved "inappropriately".

Now it has emerged he has issued an apology in a letter sent to Liberal Democrat HQ.

Bridget Harris, a former adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister, is one of the women who made the allegations.

She resigned from the Lib Dems over the party's failure to act.

Referring to the resignation of Lord Oakeshott from the Liberal Democrats earlier this week, she told Sky News: "If one errant Lib Dem peer has actually himself walked away from the House of Lords as a result of running a few opinion polls, I think that Chris Rennard should be expected to also leave the House of Lords - basically leave public life.

Bridget Harris, left, and Alison Smith, who also received an apology

"I would like to know who does he speak for now in the House of Lords?

"Who does he speak for as a Lib Dem?"

The peer's letter of apology said: "Lord Rennard wishes to achieve closure of the contentious issues that have been in the public domain for the last fourteen months by expressing his apologies to Susan Gaszczak, Alison Goldsworthy, Bridget Harris and Alison Smith.

"Lord Rennard personally accepts the full report of Alistair Webster QC as given to him on March 7th in its entirety.

"He would therefore like to apologise sincerely for any such intrusion and assure them that this would have been inadvertent.

"He hereby expresses his regret for any harm or embarrassment caused to them or anything which made them feel uncomfortable.

"Lord Rennard wishes to make it absolutely clear that it was never his intention to cause distress or concern to them by anything that he ever said or did."

Police investigated claims that Lord Rennard sexually harassed female party activists last year, but decided not to press charges.

But an internal inquiry carried out by Alistair Webster QC found there was broadly credible evidence of "behaviour which violated the personal space and autonomy of the complainants".

Lord Rennard was suspended from the party as a result of the allegations against him, but he remains a Lord.

He is now expected to make a bid to have the Lib Dem whip restored after complying with the recommendations of the inquiry.

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Online Abuse: Police Deal With Thousands Of Kids

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

Almost 2,000 children have been investigated by police in the last three years for breaking laws used to crack down on social media abuse, offensive Twitter messages and online bullying, Sky News has learned.

New figures show children as young as nine are among more than 1,200 who have then been charged with a criminal offence or given a caution, warning or fine.

The Sky News investigation also found almost 20,000 adults were the subject of police probes for these offences, the equivalent of around 20 cases a day.

And the number of cases is on the rise - up more than 5% since 2011.

The figures, obtained through Freedom of Information requests, lay bare for the first time how policing the internet has become a daily task for Britain's forces.

And as 18 of the UK's police forces failed to provide figures, the true number of investigations is likely to be much greater.

They include a series of high-profile prosecutions in recent years of people accused of posting abuse on Twitter.

Ellie, a teenage victim of online harassment who reported her case to police, told Sky News she thought the figures were "shocking".

She said she suffered death threats and comments about her family on social media.

"They stalked me and knew a lot about me," she said.

Many of the cases relate to messages posted on Twitter

"I drove at the time and where I used to live there's a little bridge. And within hours of driving over it, there was a comment saying you should have crashed your car over the bridge you drove over.

"With bullying that happens at school, people can get away from it at home. For me, this literally followed me everywhere I went."

Sky News asked police forces how many investigations they had launched in the last three years under Section 127 of the 2003 Communications Act, which covers abuse on Twitter or other social media sites, in text messages or through nuisance phone calls.

New guidance issued last year raised the threshold for prosecution, but experts say the rise in the number of cases despite the stricter definition is the result of easy internet access via smartphones.

According to responses from 34 police forces, 6,919 people were investigated in 2011/12 under Section 127, including 744 children.

In 2012/13, 6,974 cases were probed including 578 under-18s. After the first nine months of 2013/14, those figures had already hit 7,318 and 610 respectively.

Over the three years, 1,932 children were investigated and 1,203 were either charged with a criminal offence, fined, cautioned or warned verbally. Of the 19,279 adults investigated over that period, 11,292 were subject to police action.

Hertfordshire Police investigated and charged the most people in 2013 - 1,042, up from 291 in 2011. The Metropolitan Police had the highest three-year figure, 2,099.

Four 10-year-olds and one nine-year-old in Tayside were given warnings by police.

Luke Roberts, a social network expert at Beat Bullying, told Sky News: "There are more devices than ever. So whether it's smartphones, internet-connected TVs, more apps - they allow more young people to be harassed than ever before.

"In terms of social networking, we'd like to see more transparency, in terms of giving clear reporting mechanisms to children."

Parenting expert Erika Brodnock told Sky News: "This will continue to be an issue until we equip children with the skills to navigate the digital world and to be resilient to bullying.

"Online activity should be treated exactly the same as offline – parents shouldn't allow their children to play unsupervised on the internet."

While the number of children being investigated for online abuse is rising, the proportion of children using social networks is falling.

According to Ofcom research, 35% of 5-15 year olds have an active social networking profile – down from 42% in 2011 and 43% in 2012.

Meanwhile two thirds of adults have a social networking profile – a figure unchanged since 2012, according to Ofcom.

:: Have you been the victim of an online troll? Contact us at news@sky.com

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Clegg Says Cable Not Behind Leadership Plot

Lord Oakeshott's Statement

Updated: 12:43pm UK, Wednesday 28 May 2014

In his resignation statement, Lord Oakeshott said Nick Clegg has led the Liberal Democrats to a position where the party has "no roots, no principles and no values". Here is the statement in full:

I am today taking leave of absence from the House of Lords and resigning as a member of the Liberal Democrats.

I am sure the Party is heading for disaster if it keeps Nick Clegg; and I must not get in the way of the many brave Liberal Democrats fighting for change.

I leave, with a heavy heart, the party I helped to found with such high hopes with Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams and David Owen at Limehouse in 1981.

We then, like most Liberal Democrats now, wanted a radical progressive party, not a "split the difference" Centre Party, with, in Shirley's memorable words, no roots, no principles and no values.

But that is where Nick Clegg has led us.

I am sorry I have so upset and embarrassed my old friend Vince Cable and that we were not able to talk before he issued yesterday's statement from China. This is the background:

Several months ago a close colleague, concerned about voting intentions in Twickenham, asked me if I would arrange and pay for a poll to show us Vince's current position and how best to get him re-elected.

I was happy to help, and Vince amended and approved the questionnaire, but at his request I excluded a question on voting intentions with a change of leader.

Although Vince had excellent ratings, both as a Minister and a local MP, he was slightly behind the Conservatives in this poll, as the full details on the ICM website show.

That poll worried me so much that I commissioned four more in different types of constituency all over the country and added back the change of leadership question.

The results were in the Guardian yesterday and on the ICM website. Several weeks ago, I told Vince the results of those four polls too.

The combined message of these five professional and reputable ICM constituency polls, Nick Clegg's dire approval ratings year after year in all national polls, and Thursday's appalling council and European election results is crystal clear: we must change the leader to give Liberal Democrat MPs their best chance to win in 2015.

On Thursday I also commissioned one more ICM poll, in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; the results should also be on the ICM website tonight.

A few stout-hearted M.P.s and peers and hundreds, maybe soon thousands, of candidates, councillors and Lib Dem members all over Britain are now fighting constituency by constituency for a leadership election.

I have tried to give them the evidence they need to make the change.

I pray that they win, and that the right man, or preferably, woman is now elected to save the Party.

When Charles Kennedy rang to make me a peer, from a panel elected by the party, fourteen years ago he said he wanted me to shake up the Lords.

I've tried - my bills to ban non-dom peers are now law - but my efforts to expose and end cash for peerages in all parties, including our own, and help get the Lords elected have failed.

I am very sorry to leave my many old, close comrades-in-arms on the Liberal Democrat benches all over Britain, and good friends and fellow campaigners across the House.

But the unreformed Lords is now a bloated balloon and at 67 it's time to concentrate on running my business and my charity.

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Help To Buy: 80% Go To First Time Buyers

A total of 80% of the Help To Buy mortgage scheme loans granted in its first six months were given to first time buyers.

The Treasury said a total of 7,313 loans were issued, with a total value of £1bn.

The average value of each loan taken out under the controversial scheme was £136,742.

The figure shows that only about 1% of all mortgages taken out in the period were helped by the scheme, undermining critics of the programme who have said it is prompting a house price bubble.

Most mortgage completions through the scheme were completed on properties outside London and in regions where prices are lower.

A high proportion of homes supported by the scheme were in the North West and the East of England.

The mean value of a property purchased or remortgaged through the scheme is £151,597, compared to a national average house price of  £252,000.

A total of 38% of loans were for terraced houses.

The scheme's rollout in October saw only four completions done, followed by 164 in November and 818 in December.

That monthly figure jumped significantly in the first three months of this year.

In January, completions reached 1,580, while in February it hit 2,090, and 2,657 in March.

Only 5% - a total of 385 completions - were made on properties in the capital.

More follows...

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'Murder Probe' As Briton Found Dead In Bali

A British woman who was found dead on the Indonesian island of Bali may have been murdered, according to reports.

The victim has been named locally as Anne-Marie Drozdz, who was believed to be in her forties.

Her body was found on Thursday afternoon inside a villa in the town of Ubud, a popular tourist destination.

Reports said she had been renting the property since May 17.

The villa where Ms Drozdz's body was discovered

Indonesian police suspect the woman may have been murdered, according to news reports.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office would not confirm this, but said: "We are aware of the death of a British national in Bali and are providing consular assistance to the family."

The Jakarta Post said the body was taken to Sanglah Central Hospital, 14 miles away in the island's capital Denpasar, where an external examination found she had been dead for several hours by the time her body was discovered.

A murder investigation has been launched

A police spokesman told the AFP news agency there were signs the rented villa had been broken into.

He said: "The door was damaged and there were dried up pools of blood on the floor.

"She was found by the owner of the villa lying dead on the floor with a black cloth over her face."

Ms Drozdz had been renting the villa since May 17, reports say

The head of forensics at Sanglah Central Hospital, Ida Bagus Putu Alitin, told AFP that the body showed bruises on the neck and around the mouth.

"But we will wait until permission from her family and police to carry out an autopsy," he said.

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'Clegg Must Go Now' Say Senior Lib Dems

A petition calling for Nick Clegg's resignation as the leader of the Liberal Democrats has gathered steam, with hundreds of party members calling for him to step down.

The Deputy Prime Minister has insisted he would not quit despite more than 250 of the party's councillors losing their seats in local elections in England.

But with even the party leader conceding it is at risk of losing every one of its 11 MEPs when European election results are declared on Monday, he is under pressure to sacrifice himself.

Former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik told Sky News that based on the local election drubbing, Mr Clegg had to quit.

"We lost roughly 40% of the councillors who were defending their seats ... Nick Clegg, whatever he thinks of himself, in the collective interests he has to go," he said.

MP John Pugh, who described the local election defeats as "abysmal", said the "high command" was in danger of seeming like "Generals at the Somme".

Jackie Porter, who is set to fight the Tory-held target seat of Winchester in next May's general election, said the party was "not going forward with a clear strategy".

The county councillor said the party's achievements were overshadowed because Mr Clegg "allowed himself to be portrayed as just another pea out of the same pod" as David Cameron and Ed Miliband.

In order to win back support, the party needed to demonstrate it was different, she suggested.

More than 200 grassroots members have signed up to the online LibDems4Change campaign which has published an open letter to Mr Clegg.

It says: "We consider it vital that at the 2015 General Election the Party should be led by someone who will receive a fair hearing about our achievements and ambitions for the future.

But Mr Clegg has insisted he will 'absolutely not' resign

"It is clear to us that this person is not you, as the loss of so many of our hard-working councillors highlights.

"You have fulfilled a range of objectives in Government, but we now believe that progress will be best achieved under a new leader.

"We therefore ask that you stand down, allowing the membership to select your successor this summer."

Under existing rules, if Mr Clegg refuses to quit, a leadership contest would be triggered if 75 local party associations formally demand one or a majority of the parliamentary party approves a no confidence motion.

Mr Clegg said on Saturday he would "absolutely not" resign, and insisted the Lib Dems were still succeeding where they focused on their achievements in coalition.

He blamed a wider "anti-politics mood" but his party has seen its opinion poll ratings at consistently low levels since joining the Conservative-led coalition.

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Big Tweet For Missing Children Gets Under Way

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

Campaigners are hoping to reunite missing children with their families by recruiting social media users to join a day of action today.

It is estimated that 140,000 children and young people go missing in the UK every year according to the charity Missing People.

The Big Tweet for Missing Children will see a different child's appeal and photograph posted on Twitter every 30 minutes today under the hashtag #bigtweet.

With the help of TV personalities including Stephen Fry, organisers hope to improve on the 58,000 retweets they achieved last year which are believed to have resulted in at least two missing children being found.

An extension to the Child Rescue Alert system has also become operational, using text and email to send messages about missing children whose lives are believed to be at immediate risk.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) which issues six to eight alerts each year, hopes a million people will sign up though its website to receive them.

Coral Jones with her daughter April who was abducted in 2012

The new service has been welcomed by Coral Jones, the mother of April Jones whose abduction from her home town of Machynlleth, Powys, in October 2012 triggered one of the alerts.

"You don't know what's around the corner, it could be your child next," she said.

"I think everyone should sign up because you never know what will happen where you are."

Only a small fraction of missing children are known to have been taken by someone, with police statistics from 2011/12 showing 675 children and young people were the victim of an abduction or attempted abduction.

In most cases the perpetrator was a parent (17%) or someone the youngster knew but was not related to (35%), but 42% of incidents involved strangers.

Kevin Gosden, from Doncaster, whose son Andrew went missing in 2007 aged 14 and has never been seen since, is encouraging people to support both campaigns, even if it does not result in him finding Andrew.

"If it does something to raise awareness of this issue, and it gets families to think about that and talk with their kids to be sure that they know the number for Missing People - 116 000 - then I think that also is a good thing," he said.

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