Motor insurance policyholders who make fraudulent claims are risking long-term problems, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Fraudulent claims push up the cost of premiums for honest car insurance customers by around £40 a year, but a recent report by the ABI suggested the practice is becoming more common.
Its figures showed that 17 per cent more fraudulent claims were detected in 2008 than 2007, with the value of dishonest motor insurance claims some £360 million.
However, ABI spokesman Malcolm Tarling said the statistics were positive, as they showed that efforts to catch out fraudsters were working.
He added that many of the people who were caught were opportunists who wrongly believed the worst thing that could happen was for their claim to be rejected.
"Future insurance will be more expensive, it will be harder to obtain, you'll have trouble getting credit and other types of financial products and you could even risk picking up a criminal conviction," Mr Tarling explained.