Hill Dickinson launches travel claims database

Hill Dickinson’s counter fraud group has built a new travel claims database to support insurers in identifying and stopping fraudulent travel insurance claims.

The database, called Netfoil Travel, will provide insurers with a data sharing platform for baggage, curtailment, cancellation, medical expenses and winter sports package claims. It will also contain information on slip & trip accidents, food poisoning and other claims commonly experienced by the travel sector.

Travel claims fraud investigators are typically tackling high volumes of low value opportunistic and exaggerated claims in addition to a small number of high value and potentially organised fraudulent claims.

The firm says that Netfoil Travel will allow the value of suspect claims losses to be accurately estimated by the whole industry.

Netfoil Travel will operate in the same way as CUE/Cache, providing users with a platform on to which they can upload basic claims data and in the event of a match, the respective users will be able to contact each other and share information, all in compliance with the Data Protection Act.

Peter Oakes, Head of Fraud at Hill Dickinson said that the firm was confident that the database would be a powerful counter fraud tool for the travel sector.

We are currently inviting insurers and those operating in the travel claims sector to populate the platform with their claims data and enjoy free use of the service for the first 12 months,” he said.

Russell Crewe, Claims Director at Direct Group said the platform was “unquestionably needed and long overdue”.

“We are continually looking for innovative ways to support our customers and protect their bottom lines and Direct Group is in the process of working closely with Netfoil Travel to further enhance our Travel Claims handling proposition,” he said.

Mark Dugdale