Allianz Commercial is on track to set a new fraud-busting record, having successfully prevented £36.8 million worth of insurance fraud in the first six months of the year.
According to the insurer, its efforts have resulted in significant successes in the property and casualty sectors. In 2021, Allianz said it was able to foil £65.8 million worth of scams across the entire year. Its £36.8 million figure for the first half of 2022 marks a 23% year-on-year increase.
The company provided a breakdown of its fraud-busting efforts, with £17.3 million in casualty (up 26.6%), £10.3 million in property (up 40.6%) and £9.2 million in motor (up 2.8%).
Allianz credited the 2021 whiplash reforms, along with the Official Injury Claim portal, in helping contain motor fraud. While crash-for-cash gangs continue to operate, often targeting last-mile-delivery vans, their scams’ growth seems to have been muted.
In the commercial P&C sector, Allianz Commercial identified three trends, fuelled by the financial difficulties faced by both people and businesses. These are individuals lying about personal injuries to bring a claim against a business, small businesses exaggerating what started as a genuine claim, and applicants falsifying documents to obtain a cheaper quote.
Examples of these trends include:
“With every economic downturn, insurers see a rise in fraud,” said James Burge, head of counter fraud at Allianz Commercial. “At the moment, at Allianz Commercial, we’re particularly wary of opportunistic fraud, whether it is committed by or against businesses. Our teams are doing a great job of detecting dishonest claims and we’ll maintain our efforts to make sure that payouts go to genuine claimants. When times are hard, we need to help customers and claimants who actually need our support.”
