The insurance industry’s determination to protect honest customers from insurance fraud moved up a gear with the announcement of a national Insurance Fraud Register.
It is estimated that insurance fraud costs £2billion a year, adding, on average, an extra £44 a year to the insurance bill for every UK policyholder.
Funded by ABI members, the register will be an industry-owned database enabling insurers to share information on known cheats. The database will enable insurers to identify anyone who fails to declare a previous fraudulent insurance claim and follows a six month pilot exercise. It should be fully operational by early 2012.
Nick Starling, ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, said: “This initiative demonstrates how seriously insurers take reducing insurance fraud, and their determination to protect honest customers. The database will build on existing industry databases that help insurers check previous claims history to ensure that there is no hiding place for anyone caught making a bogus or exaggerated insurance claim.”
David Neave, Chairman of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, (IFB) said: “This important initiative is the next key strategic step in strengthening insurers’ tough approach to this problem. The IFB is at the forefront of a concerted drive to tackle organised insurance fraud. The work of the IFB with insurers and police forces throughout the UK has led to the prosecution of many organised insurance fraud gangs, so helping save money for insurers and honest customers alike.
Source : ABI
