Two insurance companies reported less than 5% of fraudulent injury claims last year

Two of the biggest insurance companies in the country are reporting less than 5% of fraudulent personal injury claims to Gardaí.

AIG referred just 2% of suspected fake claims to police last year while Zurich reported 4%.

Aviva - which reported 20% of cases - is also facing questions from an Oireachtas committee about the rising cost of insurance.

Its head of claims, John Farrell, says there needs to be more of a crackdown on the "compo culture".

"Our customer rear-ended a third-party, the cost of the damage was €80. There were no personal injuries reported at the time of the accident," said Mr Farrell.

"Some time after the accident - which is not unusual - we were presented with two personal injury claims.

"The first personal injury claim that went through the court was awarded €105,000."