Association of British Insurers

The Association of British Insurers, or ABI, is a trade association made up of insurance companies in the United Kingdom.





== History ==

The ABI began in 1985 after several specialised insurance industry trade associations joined to form one trade association for the UK insurance industry (excluding Lloyd's of London), including the British Insurance Association, the Life Offices’ Association, the Fire Offices Committee, the Accident Offices Association, the Industrial Life Offices Association and the Accident Offices Association (Overseas).

The UK insurance industry is the largest in Europe and the third largest in the world.

In 2014, there was a "shock" announcement that Legal & General was leaving as one of ABI's around 300 corporate members, due to the ABI's "decision to transfer its investment business to the Investment Management Association." ABI, says the Insurance Journal, warned about modern building materials like external cladding posing a fire risk before the Grenfell Tower Fire. In July 2019 Amanda Blanc stepped down as ABI chair. It still had Huw Evans as director general of ABI. In March 2020, ABI suggested to the press that "most companies would not be covered by a BI policy even in the event of a Government mandated shut down" over Coronavirus. On March 19, 2020, Nicola Sturgeon argued publicly that insurance companies should do more to help with Coronavirus in Scotland and the UK.

Motor insurance fraud emerged as the predominant form of insurance fraud in the UK in 2023, as indicated by data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The figures reveal that fraudulent claims amounted to £1.1 billion in 2023, reflecting a four percent increase from 2022. In total, insurers uncovered 84,400 fraudulent claims during the year, which is an increase of 11,800 claims compared to the previous year. The average value of these claims was reported at £13,000.