Counter-fraud database IFiHUB goes live
A ground-breaking milestone sees the UK’s Insurance Fraud Intelligence Hub (IFiHUB) go live, providing the insurance industry with a means to catch fraudsters and dramatically decrease the £2 billion+ annual cost of fraud.
IFiHUB is powered by SAS, a data-driven analytics platform, and many insurers including Ageas, Allianz, AXA, ERS, Markerstudy, Mulsanne Insurance, QBE, RSA and 1stCentral have started using the platform, sharing intelligence in real time that will help to catch out fraudsters.
Ben Fletcher, Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) explained that the counter-fraud database provides a single-platform solution for insurers: “IFiHUB has been built by the industry, for the industry – to deliver a powerful counter-fraud tool. It was recognised that fraud intelligence had historically been shared inconsistently and therefore inefficiently. By developing a single platform for insurers to share intelligence in real time, IFiHUB is a real game-changer for our sector.”
With detected fraud amounting to £1 billion each year and undetected fraud drumming around £2 billion, the new platform is a key asset in helping to protect the industry from these financial crimes and sits alongside the Insurance Fraud Register (IFR), holding industry data on suspected fraudsters and enablers.
“Allianz is very pleased to be among the first insurers to try out the IFiHUB,” commented Graham Gibson, Chief Claims Officer at Allianz Insurance. “The insurance industry has been calling for greater collaboration for some years and the IFB’s new platform, which is instantly updated with real-time data, should now enable insurers to come together and share intelligence. We look forward to proactively working together to tackle insurance fraud.”
Fletcher also noted that, once matured, the IFiHUB would be used to develop data-led strategic threat assessments, as well as also allowing the insurance industry to share intelligence with other sectors. A privacy impact assessment alongside counsel from a leading barrister on data protection has ensured the design and build of the platform has been built with compliance and integrity of the data at the forefront.
ITIJ has long suspected that the best method for tackling fraud is a collaborative approach – indeed it is a point that has been made frequently at our conferences – so we’re very pleased to see the IFiHUB go live, and with so many big names in insurance swift to jump on board.