AXA lobbies on insurance fraud

by Gill Montia

Story link: AXA lobbies on insurance fraud

AXA is lobbying politicians to gain support for the insurance sector’s ongoing fight against fraud, by focusing police resources on the problem.

The insurance group is one of a number of interested parties to have taken part in fringe meetings held during the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences at the end of September.

AXA is arguing that cases of insurance fraud are frequently dealt with at a local level because at a national level the police do not have sufficient resources to investigate them.

As a result, many supsected incidents are dealt with inefficiently by police forces across the UK and in some cases, for logistical reasons, investigations are not even pursued.

UK insurance fraud was estimated to be worth over £400 million in 2005, the figures having increased 50% on the previous year.

The insurance industry is investing heavily in methods of stamping out fraudulent activity but organised insurance fraud remains on the increase.

To give one example, according to AXA’s own analysis, induced motor accidents or “cash for crash” scams are continuing to increase in number and at the current rate of growth, cases could reach 40 per day over the next 18 months.

Richard Davies, fraud risk manager at AXA, has stated that: “In the last twelve months there have been some significant developments in the fight against fraud, but we don’t think they’ve gone far enough”.