A new survey has found that more Britons now think insurance fraud is acceptable than nine months ago.
Fewer Britons now believe that making a fraudulent insurance claim is wrong than before, according to a new study.
RSA found that 4.7 million people did not see anything unacceptable about the practice, an increase of one million on nine months ago. Slightly more than half of those responding to the survey said they "strongly agreed" with the claim that insurance fraud is wrong.
The insurance firm suggested that the recession could be playing a part in people's attitudes. One in 12 of the respondents said that their opinion on insurance fraud had changed in the last year.
RSA counter-fraud manager John Beadle expressed worry that many Britons did not see insurance fraud as serious - instead, many consider it to be a "victimless" crime. However, he added: "They are costing honest customers over £1.6 billion a year."
He went on: "RSA is working hard both individually and in conjunction with the Insurance Fraud Bureau and the rest of the industry to crack down on insurance fraud. By introducing new sophisticated detection technology, sharing fraudulent case data and working together we believe we are gradually winning the battle and the fraudsters are facing the consequences with the prospect of criminal convictions and the fact that they might find it difficult to obtain insurance cover or other financial services in the future."
