Commenting on the release of the ABI’s 2023 fraud data, Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of ACSO, said: “It’s good news that fraud has fallen, primarily as a result of the notable decrease in the number of personal injury claims following the government’s whiplash reforms. The concern remains, however, that in seeking to reduce fraudulent whiplash claims, ministers have also made it very much harder for genuine claimants to gain redress.
"The two main enablers to moving the needle further on fraud numbers are actual convictions and cooperation, both of which need further effort. We want to see fraudsters face the full force of the law, with convictions and prison sentences for scammers, ghost brokers and cash-for-crash criminals the best deterrent to this form of crime.
"But there also remains far too little cross-industry cooperation, despite everyone sharing the same ultimate goal. It's partly because, despite technology advances in data analytics, too many players view fraud knowledge as a source of competitive advantage. This means conference-platform rhetoric about working together remains just that.
“ACSO members already play a full part in identifying, preventing and deterring fraud, but would like to do more. We still want to see the Insurance Fraud Taskforce reconvene to take this issue forward. Its last report on this was over five years years ago, during which time the criminals have moved on. The industry now needs to do the same.”
The ABI release can be seen at https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2023/8/crackdown-on-insurance-cheats-delivering-results-but-average-scam-up-to-nearly-15000/