Sedgwick’s fraud strategy saves clients £35m

Sedgwick, a global provider of technology-enabled risk, benefits and integrated business solutions, has reported that its claims fraud strategy has saved clients £35.2 million in 2019.

The figure reflects an increase of £5.4 million (18 percent) from 2018 across home, commercial, motor and liability claims. The volume of claims with fraud savings was ahead of the latest rate published by the Association of British Insurers.

Steve Crystal, head of financial crime at Sedgwick International UK said: “We’re pleased that our strategy of working in partnership with our clients has seen us protect their reputations and save them money with a strong counter fraud performance in 2019.

“We’ve noted an increase across all products, most notably motor and liability; the latter has seen a steady rise across the last few years. Commercial claims fraud, which can be variable, was the largest component at £14.8 million and home claims fraud once again saw a high volume of lower value cases, reflecting the more opportunist nature we’ve seen in this product over the last five years.”

In its end of year fraud review, Sedgwick anticipates false claims will continue to develop, noting that claims fraud doesn’t always lend itself easily to statistical analysis because the rules of the game are not fixed. Crystal added: “We’re investing in technology, but it’s our experts who make a difference when it matters. Perpetrators think differently, often randomly, and motives/methods change. AI tools, coupled with better cross industry collaboration, are at the heart of our activity, but we shouldn’t underestimate the resolve of some fraudsters and their determination to beat the system. Fraudsters who deliberately invent claims will no doubt invest energy to work out how to exploit weaknesses in fraud defences. That’s why our approach is geared to tackling those who will always seek to find ways to bypass detection measures, with our experts interpreting what the fraud analytics are telling us.”

Sedgwick has 80 colleagues working in dedicated counter fraud roles, and received positive market assessment in 2019, including two awards: cyber partner of the year at an insurance media organisation’s annual fraud awards, and the UK Customer Service Excellence Awards recognition in its fight against fraud category. Crystal concluded: “We recognise that most insurance claims are valid, and that part of what matters to genuine consumers is that suspect claims are quickly identified and tackled. That’s why we’ve an ethos that sees the characteristics of a good investigation – prompt action, attention to detail and establishing rapport – mirror the elements of good customer care. We build our investigation services around the core principles, and it’s been especially pleasing for the team to be recognised in this way.”