Briefing: Can the insurance sector take a leap of faith to deliver fraud strategy?

Rarely does a week go by without another warning over the rising levels of insurance fraud.

From the current issues with crash for cash moped schemes, where scammers look to obtain driver details to take out bogus insurance policies, to opportunistic claims fraud, the industry is embroiled in a constant fight against fraudsters.

This month saw industry body the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) unveil its five year strategy for 2026-2030, entitled Connected to Protect.

The strategy is aimed at increasing the quantity and quality of data held by the IFB, unlocking opportunities for the industry in the UK, as well as globally, and further raising public understanding of insurance fraud.

Its release comes at a time of heightened government and regulatory expectations on the insurance sector, following the signing of the Insurance Fraud Charter, which was developed in response to the UK Economic Crime Strategy.

At the launch of the strategy, IFB board chair Karl Helgesen said: “Through our five year strategy we’ll be propelling the industry forward so we’re all in the best position to reduce our fraud-related exposure, protect the honest customer and create a positive societal impact.

“We’ll be rallying our members and the wider industry, as well as creating new partnerships, to help achieve our ambitions by 2030.”

A connected ecosystem

The IFB said that, under its new strategy, members would benefit from a more connected counter fraud ecosystem across the UK and internationally as it would target building stronger relationships across government, regulatory bodies and international agencies. 

Crucially, the body added that it would facilitate more intelligence and data-sharing opportunities across the sector by taking the lead on creating the first ever industry-wide counter fraud strategy. This move, it said, was intended to help strengthen cross-sector resilience and demonstrate how much insurers are doing to tackle insurance fraud.

At its heart will be a unified technology platform that will bring the IFB datasets together in one place, alongside a fraud investigation case management system. Members will be encouraged to actively contribute data intelligence to the industry data hub.

The IFB added: “By the end of 2030, fraud will be fought at every level – disrupted by shared intelligence, challenged by public trust and defeated by a connected industry that moves as one.”

The success of the strategy will depend on the ability of the IFB to build its datasets and it is determined to “empower more and more members to share their vital data across different product lines”.

It is clear that, to succeed, this strategy will require even more data collaboration than today – between the IFB, its members, partners and the public.

“We must collectively share our data with each other for the mutual benefit of driving enhanced, actionable intelligence for the collective good,” it added.

However, data sharing can be more difficult to implement than to call for.

The insurance industry has always been extremely reluctant to share data. Underwriters and brokers have always been extremely protective of the information they have been able to accrue.

Over the past 30 years, efforts to modernise the London market have been a case in point here, with market wide solutions blighted by the need to convince participants their data will not be shared with peers and competitors.

The IFB’s strategy is bold and built on the belief the use of data and technology can be a huge weapon in the fight to tackle insurance fraud, reducing claims for the benefit of insurers and the insured.

However, it will rely on brokers and insurers sharing data at a level never seen before.