Young men and women are increasingly being charged with travel insurance fraud, as insurance companies get tough on people ‘trying to earn back part of their holiday’.

Insurers reported twice as many cases of travel insurance fraud in the first half of 2017 as in the previous year. Most of the fraudsters were aged between 25 and 35 and had reported their property had been stolen, the insurers association Verbond van Verzekeraars said on Thursday..

The increase is due to the fact that insurers are more vigilant than before and investigated claims more thoroughly, a spokesman told broadcaster NOS. He added there were probably more cases of insurance fraud than were reported.

In total, insurers tracked down 10,000 people who committed some form of insurance fraud last year, a rise of 20% on 2015. A total of €83m was wrongfully claimed against the insurers and once again, the highest amount of fraud was related to car insurance.

As a result of the fraud, householders paid scores of euros more in premiums, the Verbond van Verzekeraars said.

Those found guilty of insurance fraud pay a fine of €532, are  disqualified from further insurance and their names are placed on a black list. ‘You can still get insurance but only under very tough terms and conditions,’ the spokesman told the broadcaster.