This week, reports published by both the House of Lords and the National Audit Office (NAO) highlight the scale and continuing threat of fraud in the UK.
The number of fraud cases has been steadily increasing over recent years, with the Covid-19 pandemic leading to a particularly worrying increase in digital fraud. Data from Ofcom shows that over 45 million people were targeted by scam calls and texts in the summer of 2021 alone.
The NAO's report: 'Progress on Combatting Fraud' contains further data giving a more up-to-date picture. Fraudulent behaviour was the single largest category of crime in England and Wales in the year ending June 2022, making up 41 per cent of all crime against individuals, compared with 30 per cent in the year ending March 2017. The NAO's estimates also showed thats there were over 3.8 million attempted incidents of fraud against individuals in England and Wales in the year ending June 2022, equivalent to 6.5 per cent of all those over 16.
Although the financial cost this has on businesses is not yet known, the Home Office estimates that the cost of fraud to individuals stands at over £4.5 billion annually. The report concludes that fraud is often overlooked by law enforcement, industry and government, most notably the Home Office.
The final publication from the Fraud Act 2006 Committee has also been released. 'Fighting Fraud: Break the Chain' makes a number of recommendations to the government to ensure fraud is given proper attention. It has two months to respond to the report before the recommendations are discussed and debated further in parliament. Among other recommendations, the committee push for a new cabinet-level subcommittee to tackle fraud, chaired by the Security Minister along with a government-led consumer awareness campaign in partnership with industry to raise awareness about digital fraud.
While ACSO supports the recommendations in both reports, the need for an Insurance Fraud Taskforce (IFT) successor body remains. The IFT's January 2016 report made 26 recommendations to the insurance industry and wider stakeholders, with an update report published in 2017 identifying action taken in light of these recommendations.
Five years on, there is still no sign of a successor body. The industry needs to grasp the nettle and form one now, with or without government support.