Can you affraud not to sign up?
According to the UK’s Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), more than 60 per cent of the UK’s general insurance market has signed up to the Insurance Fraud Register (IFR), a positive development for the industry. The IFB’s Insurance Fraud Taskforce report, published in January of last year, urged all insurers to sign up to the IFR, calling it an essential tool in the anti-fraud arsenal.
The IFR records details of fraudsters, both first and third-party, as well as professional enablers who either facilitate or actively perpetrate fraudulent practices across all insurance lines. Members of the IFR are able to share information on known fraudsters in order to help each other identify potential fraud at all stages.
“Insurers are recognising that joining the register provides them with an additional level of protection from fraudsters,” commented the IFB. “Membership isn’t the only success sitting at an all-time high. More fraudsters’ records are being loaded to the database, with the total volume of records now approaching the 15,000-milestone mark. More quality records of proven fraudsters on the database means more data is shared between the IFR members.”
The IFB’s director Ben Fletcher elaborated: “The IFR is a key component within the industry’s counter-fraud strategy, which focuses on prevention, detection and enforcement. Reaching this significant milestone is a positive step demonstrating that the industry recognises the importance of the IFR.” For the first time, the IFB recently opened up its membership to parties within the insurance supply chain, including investigators, third-party administrators and defendant solicitors.