Reducing your claims costs with Claims Investigations

							                                               Reducing your claims costs
                                                with	Claims	Investigations
                                                                                              Claims management




Whilst	the	vast	majority	of	claims	are	
genuine,	regrettably	the	insurance	
industry	is	a	target	for	fraudsters.	
We	have	an	obligation	to	all	of	our	
customers	to	ensure	that	we	have	
processes	in	place	to	identify	and	
investigate	potentially	fraudulent	claims.




Fraudulent claims fall broadly into one of          All of our claims staff are made aware of the risk
two categories:                                     that	fraud	poses	to	our	customers	and	our	
                                                    business,	and	are	encouraged	to	refer	any	
•	 Fictitious	losses,	incidents	or	injuries.
                                                    suspicious	claim	to	their	local	fraud	co-ordinator.	
•	 Exaggerated	losses	and/or	personal	injuries.
                                                    Many of these claims are referred to our Claims
Although	opportunistic	fraud	is	a	continuing	       Investigation	Unit,	a	team	of	18	people	
threat,	we	face	an	increase	in	organised,	          dedicated	to	the	investigation	of	fraudulent	
premeditated	activity	aimed	at	extorting	           claims	across	all	our	products.	Included	in	this	is	
significant	sums	from	the	Insurance	Industry.	      our	team	of	highly	skilled	and	motivated	field	
An	example	of	this	is	staged	motor	accidents	       based	Claims	Investigators,	who	utilise	many	
where organised criminal gangs target innocent      techniques	and	have	access	to	a	wide	variety	of	
motorists	and	cause	accidents	which,	on	paper,	     information	to	examine	the	authenticity	of	claims	
appear	to	be	the	fault	of	the	innocent	motorist.	   referred	to	them.

                                                    At	Zurich	we	take	our	responsibility	of	managing	
  Zurich	achieved	over	£40	million	savings	by	      our	customers’	claims	seriously.	We	don’t	want	any	
  combating fraud across all lines of business      party	to	be	the	target	of	fraudulent	claims,	and	to	
  in	2006.	Over	£10	million	of	this	related	to	     have	to	bear	the	financial	consequences.
  motor	claims.
                                                    Our	Claims	Investigators	are	experts	in	
                                                    investigation	and	associated	legislation	and	have	
                                                    excellent	insurance	knowledge.	They	make	on	
                                                    site	visits,	gather	all	available	evidence	and	
                                                    establish	intelligence	links,	enabling	them	to	
                                                    make	accurate	assessments.	




                                                                                                   Zurich Global Corporate
                       The	Claims	Investigation	Unit	also	includes	a	
                       team	of	highly	successful	in-house	investigators	
                       who	use	cognitive	interviewing	techniques	to	
                       carefully consider the circumstances of claims
                       referred	to	them.	Additionally	an	Intelligence	
                       Team	who	use	data	matching	techniques	and	
                       links	to	a	variety	of	Intelligence	Sources	to	
                       establish	connections	and	fraud	networks.	

                       Zurich is a member of the Insurance Fraud
                       Bureau,	who’s	aim	is	to	crack	organised	fraud.	
                       Through	this	association,	we	are	able	to	
                       circulate intelligence on fraud amongst the
                       insurance	community.

                       We	use	professional,	ethical,	appropriate	and	
                       legal	methods	to	tackle	fraud.	In	order	to	fight	
                       fraud,	we	have	access	to:

                       •	 a	panel	of	approved	private	investigators

                       •	 our	own	legal	advisors                                            To find out how
                                                                                        Zurich can help you, call
                       •	 solicitors	who	specialise	in	fraudulent	
                          insurance claims
                                                                                      your usual Zurich contact on
                                                                                             020 7648 3200.
                       •	 a	range	of	external	specialists	such	as
                          forensic	scientists,	forensic	document	                    Alternatively, call your broker
                          examiners	and	forensic	accountants.	                            or visit our website
                       We	run	customer	workshops	to	promote	                               www.zurich.com/
                       awareness	and	we	use	new	and	innovative                             corporatebusiness
                       ways	of	tackling	fraud	within	our	business.
                       We	simply	cannot	afford	not	to.




                       Zurich	Global	Corporate	UK
                       London	Underwriting	Centre,	3	Minster	Court,	Mincing	Lane,	London	EC3R	7DD,	England.	
                       www.zurich.com/corporatebusiness	
                       Zurich	Global	Corporate	UK	is	a	trading	name	of:
                       Zurich Insurance plc.
                       A	public	limited	company	incorporated	in	Ireland	Registration	No.	13460.	UK	branch	registered	
                       in	England	and	Wales	Registration	No.	BR7985.	Registered	Office:	Zurich	House,	Ballsbridge	Park,	
                       Dublin	4	Ireland.	UK	Branch	Head	Office:	The	Zurich	Centre,	3000	Parkway,	Whiteley,	Fareham,	
127679A03 (6/09) ZCA




                       Hampshire	PO15	7JZ.
                       Authorised	by	the	Irish	Financial	Regulator	and	subject	to	limited	regulation	by	the	Financial	Services	
                       Authority.	Details	about	the	extent	of	our	regulation	by	the	Financial	Services	Authority	are	available	
                       from	us	on	request.	FSA	registration	number	203093.	These	details	can	be	checked	on	the	FSA’s	
                       register	by	visiting	their	website	www.fsa.gov.uk/register	or	by	contacting	them	on	0845	606	1234.