The number of fraud investigations is growing - SOS International trains its staff
According to new figures from the Swedish organisation Larmtjänst, the number of attempted insurance frauds has increased between 2018 and 2019. However, the industry is also getting better at investigating and reporting suspected frauds to the police. SOS International's employees are trained to identify deviations that might suggest that a fraud is underway.
In 2019, Swedish non-life insurance companies conducted 7588 fraud investigations, according to new figures from Larmtjänst. An increase of 126 investigations compared to the previous year. The investigations resulted in 335 police reports and the insurance companies declined to pay compensation worth SEK 515 million.
According to new figures from Larmtjänst, men are over-represented in the investigated insurance fraud statistics (64%), as are policyholders born in the 1980s and 1990s.
When it comes to roadside assistance and engine damage, fraud can be about staged accidents or thefts, wrong incident locations or wrong sequence of events. SOS International's assistance coordinators are trained to detect signs of possible fraud and create basis for future investigations of insurance companies.
"When one of our assistance coordinators are suspects something is not right, they inform the roadside assistance team, who can then come fully prepared to the site. The roadside assistance workers document everything properly on site, take pictures and check whether the specified damage sequence corresponds to what is seen at the site of the incident. The data is then forwarded to the responsible insurance company,” says Katarina Gustafsson, Education Manager at SOS International.
Top 3 reasons why insurance companies refuse to cover damages:
- The policyholder cannot prove that the damage has occurred (41%)
- The policyholder has provided incorrect information (24%)
- The damage has been staged (8%)
Source: Larmtjänst.
“Frauds cost insurance companies large sums of money every year and ultimately affect policyholders by way of higher premiums. We want to do what we can to help insurance companies reduce fraud,” concludes Katarina Gustafsson.