’We have seen an uptick across the board on all aspects of insurance fraud in 2023,’ says head of counter fraud
Allianz Commercial detected and prevented £77.4m worth of claims fraud and made £1.95m of application fraud savings throughout 2023, according to its latest figures.
This figure represents an uptick from 2022’s full year figure, when prevented fraud savings reached £70.7m.
The insurer said that the cost of living crisis was continuing to impact on businesses, with the resultant financial struggles increasing the risk of insurance fraud.
Allianz Commercial also claimed to have increased its claims fraud detection capabilities by 10% from the prior reporting period thanks to the implementation of its Incognito machine learning tool.
James Burge, head of counter fraud at Allianz Commercial, explained: “We have seen an uptick across the board on all aspects of insurance fraud in 2023.”
Fraudulent trends
In its data, Allianz Commercial identified a “marked increase” in the attempted use of false confirmed claims experience during 2023. As the commercial equivalent of a no claims bonus, this evidences a potential link to identity theft of genuine companies.
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The insurer also noted that 2023 saw a reversal in the trend of cash for crash motor accidents in 2022, with the most recent data showing a 25% increase in referrals.
Other motor trends included an increase in moped and courier drivers inducing and fabricating accidents, which it theorised could be related to rule changes in the Highway Code.
Within the casualty space, Allianz Commercial also noted a continued rise in professional enabler led fraud, with a 41% increase in investigations into deliberate non-disclosure when compared to 2022.
Burge added: ”Our success in detection and preventive measures lies in the superb collaboration across our teams, with effective strategies and support from our suppliers and leaderships teams.
“We remain focused on fraud detection to protect our honest customers in 2024.”
Allianz Commercial was formed in July 2023 when Allianz merged its Global Corporate and Specialty and Property and Casualty businesses. The international insurer’s national units all officially adopted the new trading name, with the UK arm led by Nadia Côté.
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