Trials show lie detectors can halve motor theft claim costs, says Digilog
Insurers could slash the amount they spend on investigate motor theft claims by adopting lie detectors, say experts.
Voice risk analysis (VRA) specialist Digilog claimed this week that trials on motor theft claims at Highway Insurance had shown that the use of lie detectors had cut the number of loss adjuster instructions by around 50%.
Digilog managing director Kerry Furber said: "When we need to investigate, we still use loss adjusters but the net result is that we instruct fewer loss adjusters, probably more than 50% fewer, when investigating motor thefts."
But a Cila spokesman argued that while VRA technology was a vital part of the fight against fraud, lie detectors would never eliminate the need for trained field investigators.
"Tackling fraud is a major issue and VRA is an important a component, but so are managed investigations by experienced adjusters. It's all part of the toolkit," said the spokesman.
Halifax Bank of Scotland's (HBOS) insurance arm recently announced that it was set to run a three-month pilot using a VRA system supplied by Digilog.
Last week, Groupama and Fortis confirmed that they were considering following HBOS' lead and piloting lie detectors.
