Allianz Commercial is reporting that it has prevented £36.8m worth of insurance fraud in the first six months of the year, with marked increases in the property and casualty sectors.
In a statement, the firm said that the fraud detected in H1 2022 is a 23% increase over the same period in 2021. It said it has saved £17.3m in casualty (+26.6% over H1 2021), £10.3m in property (+40.6% over H1 2021), and £9.2m in motor (+2.8% over H1 2021).
James Burge, head of counter fraud at Allianz Commercial, said: “With every economic downturn, insurers see a rise in fraud. At the moment, at Allianz Commercial, we’re particularly wary of opportunistic fraud, whether it is committed by or against businesses. Our teams are doing a great job of detecting dishonest claims and we’ll maintain our efforts to make sure that payouts go to genuine claimants. When times are hard, we need to help customers and claimants who actually need our support.”
The firm said that the 2021 whiplash reforms, with the Official Injury Claim portal, seem to have helped contain motor fraud. Crash-for-cash gangs continue to operate, targeting last-mile-delivery vans among other vehicles, but the rise is muted. The increase is much more pronounced in commercial property and casualty.
