EVERYONE remembers those daft insurance claims from Jasper Carrot.

"I started to slow down but the traffic was more stationary than I thought."

"I pulled into a lay-by with smoke coming from under the bonnet. I realised the car was on fire so took my dog and smothered it with a blanket."

But many of today’s home and car insurance claims are no laughing matter, says the Association of British Insurers. They say the recession has led to a rise in fraudulent claims and exaggerations of real ones.

In fact, 107,000 claims worth a total of £730 million were found to be false last year. Including the one from the bloke who pushed his car over a cliff and said it had been stolen.

Fraud, apparently, is more of a temptation when times are hard.

Like the chap who tried to claim for a new pair of trousers from his local council because he said there weren’t enough public loos.

Or the bloke who put in a claim for injuries after slipping on stairs which might have had more validity if he hadn’t been running away from the scene of a crime.

Then there was the amateur footballer who said a back injury had stopped him working. He might have got away with being named player of the year but it was stupid to have his photograph in the local paper.

"Fraud thrives in a recession, so insurers are intensifying their crackdown on insurance cheats," said Nick Starling, the ABI's director of insurance.

Especially daft ones.