ABI launches fraud register to "aggressively" chase cheats

Otto Thoresen, director general at the ABI, made the announcement in his opening speech at today's ABI Fraud Conference and also outlined findings in an ABI report published today.

The No Hiding Place document details the association's latest anti-fraud initiatives and case studies to illustrate the scope of the problem.

Thoresen said: "The development of the Insurance Fraud Register marks a milestone in the fight against fraud. This is a big step forward for the industry.

"This national database will hold details of known insurance fraudsters, and will reinforce the deterrent message that insurance cheats will find it hard in future to obtain insurance, credit and other financial products."

He added that using words such as "fight" and "cheats" was aggressive but was the only approach to provide protection for honest customers.

The register will enable companies that sign up to cross check the details of policyholders on the database and manage that increased risk appropriately.

Thorosen estimated a further £2bn of undetected insurance fraud on top of fraudulent claims current totalling £1bn a year, adding £50 to the annual insurance bill for every UK policyholder.

ABI consumer research showed 95% of respondents knew that making an exaggerated, false or inflated insurance claim would be classed as fraud.

But 38% thought insurance fraud was an easy way to make a quick buck and 29% felt they were unlikely to get caught committing insurance fraud.

Thoresen said: "Our objective is that by the end of year one, we will see at least one quarter of the insurance market participating in the Insurance Fraud Register.

"Our early focus is on insurer participation, in time, we will explore rolling the register out to brokers and other stakeholders. The industry makes no apologies for its zero tolerance approach to insurance fraud."

He added he was "impressed with the skills" of the frontline Police Unit to help fight insurance fraud.