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Aviva detects fraud on 2,200 new commercial motor policies in the UK in 2015


February 17, 2016   by Canadian Underwriter


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Aviva plc said on Wednesday that it had detected policy fraud on almost 2,200 commercial motor policies in 2015.

Aviva is now screening all commercial motor policies for fraud at the point of application

The extent of “front-end” fraud in the commercial motor space came as Aviva announced it is now screening all commercial motor policies for fraud at point of application.

Aviva is using Hunter, a fraud detection tool from global information services company Experian, on its commercial motor book and is also performing “strong application fraud checks across all of its products, including Fast Trade Mini Fleet,” the insurer said in a press release. Hunter screens key underwriting data – such as company name, address and vehicles to be covered – against shared and proprietary Aviva fraud databases. The end result is that “fraudsters will not be able to access Aviva products or impact Aviva customers or brokers,” said Tom Gardiner, Aviva’s head of fraud, in the release.

“Screening our commercial motor book is another significant step toward closing the front door to fraud,” Gardiner added. “We already successfully screen on our personal lines motor book, with some great results, such as helping us to identify a large-scale application fraud ring which set up policies with the aim of making bogus claims. We were able to avoid the policies and avoid fraudulent claims worth more than £3m. In 2015 we identified over 11,000 instances of personal motor application fraud.”

Aviva’s policy screening identifies features or behaviour which may indicate suspicious or fraudulent applications, the insurer explained. It also checks against previous known and suspect fraud. This additional layer of security adds to Aviva’s fraud detection capabilities, allowing the insurer to detect and identify fraud earlier and supporting its holistic approach to fraud prevention.

Application fraud can range from deliberately misrepresenting claims history, convictions and addresses in order to access cheap cover, to buying policies with the purpose of making bogus claims, Aviva said, noting that “screening commercial motor policies will reduce the effect that fraud can have on commercial motor premiums for genuine customers.”

“Fraud is not specific to personal lines, but our expertise on private motor is helping us prevent and detect fraud on our commercial motor book,” Gardiner said in the release. “We are already detecting cases previously avoided for policy fraud in our personal motor book who have then set up a bogus company to insure their vehicles under a commercial motor product to hide their identity.”

Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to an estimated 34 million customers across 16 markets worldwide. In the UK, Aviva serves an estimated one in four households and has businesses in selected markets in Europe, Asia and Canada.


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