NCJ Number
174889
Journal
Journal of Financial Crime Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: January 1997 Pages: 236-241
Date Published
1997
Length
6 pages
Annotation
After examining measures used by the insurance industry both in the United Kingdom and abroad to counter fraud, this paper reports on the apparent success the industry is having against fraudsters in the United Kingdom; some of the more noteworthy cases are profiled.
Abstract
The countermeasures against fraud used by the insurance industry are in the following areas: technological, legal, national governmental intervention, bureaus, and multiagency efforts. In the technology field, the increased capacity of computers to store large amounts of data and the improved ability of relational databases has increased success against fraudsters. In the legal arena, laws have been enacted that require pre-claim inspections of vehicles alleged to have been involved in insurable accidents; also, in some jurisdictions owners of used cars are required to have them photographed by the insurance company prior to being insured. There have not been any moves by the British government to become directly involved in policing insurance fraud. Some argue, however, that national governments must become involved if there is to be any form of effective international cooperation to combat insurance fraud. Bureaus and multiagency operations have been used to maintain and use databases and registers to detect and investigate insurance fraud. The insurance industry estimates that 40 percent of all insurance frauds are inflated claims. To combat this, insurance companies are increasingly insisting that they replace goods themselves. Insurers negotiate the costs of repairs or replacement directly. The provider of the goods or service is less likely to be involved in exaggerating any claims, since this may jeopardize any future business from insurance companies. 25 references