FRAUD PREVENTION these techniques occur in just one line of insurance – auto claims – highlights how complex the fraud landscape is for insurers .
Will the nature of insurance scams change ? As consumers face increasing economic hardship , will the nature of insurance fraud change ?
“ We are expecting to see more opportunistic fraud ,” explains Lunn . “ This is both in terms of fraudsters looking to take advantage of customers experiencing hardship , but also with more fraudulent interactions from policyholders at both the policy inception stage as well as at claim stage as they are tempted to exaggerate a genuine incident .
“ In terms of other fraudulent activities , I think it will be the case of being aware of
‘ old favourites ’ of the fraudsters , while also keeping our finger on the pulse to try and identify new and upcoming tricks .”
She warns there could be an increase in claims farming , where third parties encourage consumers to pursue claims for financial gain ; or staged and induced claims events “ as there is clearly still money to be made in personal injury claims ”.
However , there is also a risk that consumers see these headline-grabbing statistics about attempted insurance fraud and dismiss it as scaremongering . “ I think there is a general mistrust of insurers ,” Lunn adds . “ People always hear about the bad news stories and think insurers are actively looking for ways to get out of paying a claim ; they don ’ t tend to hear that over 98 % of claims are paid .”