Allianz helps shape new fraud NVQ to mitigate skills challenge

A new insurance and financial services fraud qualification is set to launch later this year following a collaboration between government bodies, training providers and industry specialists, with Allianz UK playing a key role in its development.

The new NVQ-style programme, focused on fraud risk management and horizon scanning, is being developed through a working group brought together by the Cabinet Office as concerns continue to grow around rising fraud levels across financial services.

Matt Crabtree, head of financial crime, intelligence and investigations at Allianz UK, said the qualification had been designed to help close a longstanding skills gap in the market while creating clearer development routes for fraud professionals.

Speaking to Insurance Times, Crabtree said the industry needed to place greater emphasis on developing special fraud talent alongside investments in technology and data.

“We do a lot around the tech, the data and the intelligence,” he said. “But the people bit is where we’ve got a real call to arms as an industry, to work together and actually train our people.”

The qualification is expected to focus heavily on fraud risk assessment, emerging threat identification and structured horizon scanning, areas Crabtree believes will become increasingly important as fraud risks evolve.

He said: “I think the skills that we need to come out of this is horizon scanning and preparing for the future of fraud risks, and doing that in a structured and educated way that we teach people how to do proper risk assessments and threat assessments.”

‘A real gap’

The qualification is currently going through final government sign-off following delays linked to wider structural changes within education oversight.

Although the programme will apply across the wider financial services sector rather than insurance specifically, Crabtree said insurers had a significant stake in ensuring stronger fraud capabilities were developed.

“Fraud continues to increase across financial services, and that’s what we see within our sector,” he said. “This is fundamentally about filling a gap.”

The programme will follow a workplace-learning structure similar to other NVQs, combining classroom-based learning with practical assessments over a period expected to last between 15 to 24 months.

Crabtree said Allianz had already been investing heavily in fraud and intelligence training internally, with employees currently undertaking specialist level four qualifications in intelligence analysis and fraud investigations.

He added that the business had already identified strong interest in the new course ahead of launch.

He said: “We’ve probably had six or seven people already come forward saying they’d like to understand more when it goes live.”

Career development route

Crabtree, who himself entered the industry through the NVQ route, said workplace-based qualifications could offer an important alternative career path for people who may not purse university education

“I’m a massive fan of that route,” he said. “College and university are great for the right people, but that doesn’t suit everybody.”

He also stressed that the qualification could help create stronger progression opportunities for specialists who do not necessarily want to move into line management roles.

He said: “You don’t want to just have to go to line management type roles to progress your career.

“We need people advancing those fraud and risk management skills are well.”

For Crabtree, the long-term ambition extends beyond Allianz itself.

“When it comes to fraud investigation detection, I think you need four pieces of the jigsaw – technology, data, intelligence and people,” he said. “And I see this qualification strengthening my fourth piece.”