Within the short document, clients are given examples of what fraud is (including making exaggerations on claims and misrepresenting risks), the impact it has on premiums and other clients, the measures AXA takes to protect itself and clients from fraud and the obligation upon insurers to pursue fraudulent activity where it is identified.

This is the first in a series of four planned documents to be shared with our clients. Future iterations will advise brokers and clients on the fraud investigation process, explain technical terminology, explore collaborative approaches to fraud prevention and possible sanctions as a result of committing fraud.
 

Richard Davies, AXA’s Global Chief Fraud Control Officer, said: “AXA is committed to being as open and honest as possible with its customers and brokers and we have a responsibility to do that in every aspect of our operations, including fighting fraud.
 

“Of course detecting and prosecuting fraud is a vital element of tackling the problem but we need to go beyond this one-dimensional approach and focus on the source. Many people don’t realise that being less than truthful about how they represent their risk or whether they have had any convictions is committing fraud and what the repercussions of that are.”

Steve White, Chief Executive of Biba, said: “The cost of fraud to the industry runs into more than £2bn per year and affects what honest policy holders have to pay for their insurance. Biba is committed to tackling and reducing this problem and this forms part of our 2015 manifesto. We applaud the initiative to help brokers to make clear to their clients the nature of insurance fraud.”

Davies explained that the intention of Making Fraud Prevention Clear was to provide an extra layer of protection to AXA’s traditional anti-fraud tactics.

“We know it is not necessarily going to tackle the issue of organised gangs but we do hope that the information we are providing will at least make people stop and think before they make decisions that could have serious long term implications for them,” he said.

“Fraud is one of the most potent threats facing the insurance industry and we must look to use every tool available to us to root it out and make our industry one of the most robust when it comes to fraud protection. That includes giving our customers as much clarity as possible and we will continue to do that,” Davies added.

Please feel free to download the document below.