Investigators on fraud panel face financial health check
Allianz Cornhill has announced plans to halve its panel of fraud investigators.
The insurer currently has 12 investigators on its panel, but it is aiming to reduce this to six.
To help carry out the review, Allianz Cornhill has written to its panel members setting out a list of standards it expects its investigators to meet.
It is understood that among the standards required by Allianz Cornhill is evidence of the financial health of investigators on its panel.
An Allianz Cornhill spokesman said that not all of its panel members had responded to its requests for assurances on standards.
"Asking for assurances on standards has scared some of the firms off," he said.
Last week, it was revealed that Allianz Cornhill had developed an automated system enabling claims handlers to log suspected fraudulent claims.
The system allows claims handlers to fill out details of a suspected fraudulent claim on screen rather than filling out details on paper as was previously the case.
The PwC Economic Crime Survey found that while UK businesses lead the way in insuring against fraud, fewer than 40% recover losses through their insurance policies.
The report's authors claimed that companies are insuring the wrong risks and agreeing substantial excesses.
UK businesses reported some of the highest levels of fraud in the world, with 51% claiming they have been subject to economic crime in the last two years.
Andrew Clark, head of investigations at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "Economic crime is a serious business risk, with one in two UK companies reporting an incident.
"Businesses are insured for losses in traditional areas such as employee theft, but only 41% are insuring themselves against malicious attacks. Worryingly, British businesses are clearly under-insured."
