Cheats hotline 'cuts' fraudulent claims against local authorities
A survey, conducted amongst 17 Local Authority subscribers to Cunningham Lindsey UK’s FraudLine, revealed that, on average, the total number of liability claims received during 2007/2008 was 17% less than the same period in 2006 / 2007.
Cunningham Lindsey said thes reduction proves that FraudLine continues to be effective in helping clients in their drive to deter fraudulent claims.
FraudLine was also endorsed within the survey as playing an integral part in the overall risk management strategy adopted by these local authorities.
Datamonitor research published in the UK Personal Injury Litigation 2007 (UKPIL 2007) report highlights that the total number of personal injury claims escalated by 5.4% in 2006/2007. It also states that the number of accident claims registered to the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) at the Department of Work and Pensions increased by 8.3% in 2006/2007.
Datamonitor forecast in UKPIL 2007 that the number of personal injury claims is set to rise as a national average of 3% per annum to 2012. It also highlights that several personal injury law firms have invested heavily in advertising in order to reach the public directly and pursue claims on their behalf against local authorities and others.
Cunningham Lindsey said FraudLine clients were generally seeing performance of 20% less than the average predicted by Datamonitor. "To put a value on that reduction - 1,134 fewer claims, year on year, in the sample of 17 clients, represents a potential saving at £3,000 per claim - a grand total saving of over £3m," th e loss adjuster said.
FraudLine clients now include the 10 founding members of the London Authority Mutua taking the total number of subscribers to the service to 44. FraudLine provides an advertising campaign of leaflets, posters and a 24/7 branded hotline in one service.
Dayton Griffiths, Insurance & Risk Manager for Caerphilly County Council said: “Over the last 12 months, we have seen a reduction of almost 60% in fraudulent or exaggerated personal injury claims in Caerphilly, and this is very much due to the FraudLine campaign. Fraudline continues to be very effective deterrent in the local authorities’ battle against fraud.”
