Aviva is urging Ofcom and online platforms to do more to stop fraudulent insurance adverts, including checking financial-services advertisers against relevant Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) permissions and removing scam content faster. The requests were made in Aviva’s response to Ofcom’s consultation on Fraudulent Advertising Codes of Practice, published on 2 October 2026. They are proposals, not confirmation of final Ofcom rules.
What Aviva wants Ofcom and platforms to do
In its consultation response, Aviva called for four changes: mandatory checks that financial-services advertisers hold the relevant FCA permissions; quicker takedowns of fraudulent adverts and content; greater platform contributions to enforcement and victim support; and closer intelligence-sharing among insurers, platforms, regulators, consumer groups and law enforcement. Aviva says stronger controls are needed to reduce harm from fraudulent online advertising. Aviva’s 2 October 2026 announcement records the company’s position in the consultation. It does not establish that Ofcom has adopted the proposals, or specify final rules or an effective date.
Aviva also reported that its cease-and-desist notices to suspected ghost brokers had doubled and website takedowns had increased more than eightfold compared with 2025. These are Aviva’s own enforcement comparisons; the announcement does not provide underlying counts or detailed methodology.
What the reported figures do—and do not—show
The figures Aviva has cited come from different sources and populations. They should not be treated as a single measure of the scale or year-on-year change in ghost broking across the UK.
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- FCA research relayed by Aviva: Aviva’s 2026 announcement says 49% of young drivers had bought insurance through social media or messaging apps. That is a figure attributed to FCA research as reported by Aviva; it is not a measure of how many bought fake policies.
- Aviva’s detected cases: In a 2025 release, Aviva said its detected ghost-broking cases were up 22% since 2023 and more than 4% year on year. These are changes in cases detected by Aviva, not a count of all UK incidents. Aviva’s 2025 announcement provides the company’s account.
- Aviva’s 2025 survey: Among 2,000 drivers aged 17–25 surveyed by Aviva, 31% said they had bought car insurance through social-media platforms. In the same survey, 84% of young drivers who said they had bought a fake policy on social media reported problems. Aviva listed incorrect policy details and declined claims (24% each), seller disappearance (19%), police stops (16%) and identity theft (16%). The available account does not establish that those problems were mutually exclusive.
- Costs in Aviva’s detected cases: Where relevant fee data was recorded, victims paid an average of about £2,000: an average £1,700 premium plus a £300 additional fee, according to Aviva’s 2025 release.
What ghost broking is and how it can leave you uninsured
Ghost broking is the fraudulent sale of fake or invalid motor insurance by someone pretending to be an insurance intermediary. A seller may provide documents for a policy that does not exist, buy a real policy using false details and pass it on, or use stolen bank details to obtain policies for resale. Fraudulent sellers may also imitate insurers with professional-looking websites, collect personal information and payments, and issue counterfeit documents. Aviva describes these methods in its consumer guidance on ghost brokers.
There is another variation described in the Association of British Insurers’ October 2025 submission to Ofcom: an apparently genuine policy may be cancelled soon after purchase, allowing the fraudster to seek a refund while keeping the buyer’s money. The ABI says ghost-broking adverts have appeared on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and describes forged documents and false details used to reduce premiums. These are examples in an industry submission, not a regulator’s finding about any particular advert. Read the ABI’s October 2025 consultation submission.
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The practical risk is that paperwork can look convincing while an insurer has no policy on record, or while the details on a real policy are wrong. A buyer may discover the problem only when making a claim or when their insurance is checked. Aviva warns that victims can face rejected claims, penalties and other consequences of driving without valid insurance, as well as identity-fraud risks.
How to check whether your car insurance is real
Use each check for what it can confirm. The FCA register checks whether a broker is authorised; the insurer can confirm that the policy exists and its details are correct; the Motor Insurance Database (MID) lets you check whether a vehicle appears on the database. No single check should replace direct confirmation of all policy details with the insurer.
- Check the broker: Look up the business on the FCA register and confirm it is authorised for the relevant activity. Use the register independently rather than relying on a link or screenshot sent by the seller.
- Contact the insurer directly: Find the insurer’s contact details independently. Ask whether the policy exists and confirm every detail, including the vehicle and the information used to arrange the cover. Do not rely on the seller to make this check for you.
- Check the vehicle on the MID: Search the Motor Insurance Database to see whether the vehicle appears as insured. If the record does not match what you were told, contact the insurer directly to resolve it.
Aviva advises buyers to be cautious about unusually cheap offers, sellers who communicate only through social media or messaging apps, and requests to pay a personal account. A social-media advert is not automatically fraudulent: the key is whether the seller’s authorisation and the policy can be independently verified.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to do if you think you bought fake car insurance
- Contact the insurer the seller claimed to represent, using contact details you find independently. Ask whether cover was issued and whether the policy details are valid.
- Report suspected ghost broking to Report Fraud or the Insurance Fraud Bureau, as Aviva advises. Keep relevant messages, payment records and documents available when reporting.
If the insurer cannot confirm valid cover, do not assume the documents are enough to establish that you are insured. Resolve your status directly with the insurer before relying on the policy.
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