The improvement spans various types of insurance fraud, including motor and home claims, application fraud, and the rise of ghost brokers selling fake insurance policies.
However, fraudsters are constantly adapting their tactics to pursue new scams, such as an increase in moped crash-for-cash fraud and the use of shallow fakes. Fraud cases involving apps that manipulate real-life images, videos, and documents have increased by 300% from 2022 to 2023, indicating a growing challenge for the insurance industry.
In one case, an individual’s van photo, posted on social media, was manipulated by fraudsters to make a false claim for an accident that never occurred. LV=’s fraud team flagged concerns with the claim and discovered that the image had been edited using a photo from social media.
Beyond photo editing, other emerging technologies such as AI and deep fakes also pose significant challenges for the insurance industry and consumers. In response, Allianz is investing in its fraud detection capabilities by forming a partnership with voice analytics tool Clearspeed. This collaboration will enable the insurer to detect more fraud, streamline claims processing, and provide a better customer experience.
Clearspeed’s technology helps identify previously undetected potential fraudsters and provides insights for better decision-making and resource prioritisation. This partnership demonstrates Allianz’s commitment to staying ahead of fraudsters’ evolving tactics and supporting its customers with enhanced fraud prevention measures.
Speaking about the partnership, Ben Fletcher, Director of Financial Crime at Allianz’s personal lines business said: “Here at Allianz we remain committed to combatting fraud and safeguarding the interests of our honest and loyal customers. Our increased fraud detection rate in 2023 reflects how seriously we take this issue and our partnership with Clearspeed is the next step in our ambitious plans to enhance our fraud prevention measures. I look forward to a collaborative and effective partnership to further prevent insurance fraud and crime.”
Alex Martin, CEO of Clearspeed also commented, saying: “Allianz is a world class organisation and we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with them as we expand our footprint in the UK insurance market. In an increasingly complex risk environment, with accelerating customer experience expectations, there’s never been a better time to reimagine the claims process.”
He added: “At our core, we believe the key to better identifying risk and preventing fraud is by enabling trust. This paradigm shift is critical to transforming the insurance industry to meet the challenges of today’s world. We can uniquely address that need without trading off between customer satisfaction and risk detection, leaning into greater precision and actionable insights.”
