Allianz Commercial on track for fraud-busting record

Allianz Commercial successfully prevented £36.8 million worth of insurance fraud in the first six months of 2022, with marked increases in the property and casualty sectors.

The fraud investigators at the business insurance provider are on track to beat their record from 2021, when they busted £65.8 million worth of scams over the course of a full year.

The £36.8 million of fraud they detected in the first half of 2022 represents a 23% increase over the same period last year.

Allianz Commercial’s fraud savings came in casualty at £17.3 million (+26.6% over H1 2021), property at £10.3 million (+40.6% over H1 2021) and motor at £9.2 million (+2.8% over H1 2021).

The insurer said that the 2021 whiplash reforms, with the introduction of the Official Injury Claim portal, “seem to have helped contain motor fraud”. Although crash-for-cash gangs continue to operate, targeting last-mile-delivery vans among other vehicles, “the rise is muted”.

The increases in prevented fraud were much more pronounced in commercial property and casualty, with three trends, fuelled by the financial difficulties faced by both people and businesses, behind them.

These trends include individuals lying about personal injuries to bring a claim against a business, small businesses exaggerating what started as a genuine claim, and applicants falsifying documents to obtain a cheaper quote.

Commenting on the results, 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.”

Image: Canva

Mark Dugdale