5 February 2012
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18 December 2008
Keoghs saves insurers £40m on suspect frauds
Top 100 law firm Keoghs has helped some of the UK’s leading insurers to avoid paying out over £40m on suspected fraudulent claims resolved in the last 12 months, thanks to the efforts of its 130-strong Counter Fraud Services division.
While a large number of the ‘flushed out’ claims were motor-related - including staged accidents, phantom passengers, low speed impacts and fraud rings - a significant proportion were in liability and property, confirming fears that fraudsters are diversifying as the insurance industry tightens its grip on motor fraud.
James Heath, director of Counter Fraud Strategy at Keoghs and Secretary of IFIG, commented: “Our figures confirm that the ‘jam sandwich effect’ is happening – as the industry squeezes motor fraud, fraudsters are moving into other areas which they see as ‘softer targets’ such as property and liability fraud.
“However, the process-driven intelligence-led, approach to tackling fraud that we have developed in dealing with motor claims over the last ten years is being successfully applied across the range of insurance products, in order to both utilise substantial savings for our clients and ensure that there are no ‘easy targets’ for fraudsters.
“In addition to our work in achieving substantial fraud savings for insurers, we have also successfully pursued fraudulent claimants through the courts - sending out a clear message that as an industry we are not prepared to let crimes of this kind go unpunished.”
Keoghs established its Counter Fraud Services division in 1998 and the division’s specialist insurance fraud ring team is now the largest of its kind in the UK. The firm also has a sizeable intelligence team who collect and analyse data from a wide range of sources to help ensure that fraudulent claims are quashed quickly and genuine claims are resolved without delay.
The firm works with the UK’s largest insurance companies and directly with the Insurance Investigators Group (IFIG) and the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) on large-scale insurance cases and fraud rings.
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While a large number of the ‘flushed out’ claims were motor-related - including staged accidents, phantom passengers, low speed impacts and fraud rings - a significant proportion were in liability and property, confirming fears that fraudsters are diversifying as the insurance industry tightens its grip on motor fraud.
James Heath, director of Counter Fraud Strategy at Keoghs and Secretary of IFIG, commented: “Our figures confirm that the ‘jam sandwich effect’ is happening – as the industry squeezes motor fraud, fraudsters are moving into other areas which they see as ‘softer targets’ such as property and liability fraud.
“However, the process-driven intelligence-led, approach to tackling fraud that we have developed in dealing with motor claims over the last ten years is being successfully applied across the range of insurance products, in order to both utilise substantial savings for our clients and ensure that there are no ‘easy targets’ for fraudsters.
“In addition to our work in achieving substantial fraud savings for insurers, we have also successfully pursued fraudulent claimants through the courts - sending out a clear message that as an industry we are not prepared to let crimes of this kind go unpunished.”
Keoghs established its Counter Fraud Services division in 1998 and the division’s specialist insurance fraud ring team is now the largest of its kind in the UK. The firm also has a sizeable intelligence team who collect and analyse data from a wide range of sources to help ensure that fraudulent claims are quashed quickly and genuine claims are resolved without delay.
The firm works with the UK’s largest insurance companies and directly with the Insurance Investigators Group (IFIG) and the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) on large-scale insurance cases and fraud rings.
