Counter fraud

Fraud prevention

Fraudulent claims are a serious problem for insurers and any costs arising from such activity are inevitably passed on to honest policyholders. In order to protect your interests and the interests of the vast majority of our customers, we fully investigate all claims, and where fraud is detected we report to the authorities under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

Insurers pass information to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange Register, run by Insurance Database Services Ltd (IDS Ltd) and the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register, run by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The aim is to help insurers to check the information provided and also to prevent fraudulent claims. When your request for insurance is dealt with, the registers are searched.

Under the conditions of your policy, we must be told about any incident (such as an accident or theft) that may or may not give rise to a claim. In the event of a claim, the information you supply, together with any other information relating to the claim, will be put on the register and made available to participants.

It is our practice to co-operate fully with the police authorities in the detection and prosecution of those involved in fraud.

If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be provided to fraud prevention agencies. Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information. We and other organisations may also access and use this information to prevent fraud and money laundering, for example, when:

• Checking details on applications for credit and credit related or other facilities
• Managing credit and credit related accounts or facilities and recovering debt
• Checking details on proposals and claims for all types of insurance
• Checking details of job applicants and employees

Please contact us on 0330 024 4773* if you want to receive details of the relevant fraud prevention agencies. We and other organisations may access and use from other countries the information recorded by fraud prevention agencies.

Reporting fraud

You may report information confidentially in respect of bogus/fraudulent claims to the Cheatline on 0800 422 0421*. The Cheatline is manned 24 hours a day.

Alternatively, fraud can be reported online to the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) at www.insurancefraudbureau.org.

All information can be reported anonymously and will be treated in the strictest confidence.

The Cheatline is manned by experienced fraud investigators who may share the information with other interested parties, such as the insurer concerned (if known). Savings obtained from information provided to the Cheatline will help to reduce insurance premiums. More information can be provided if requested.

* Call costs may vary depending on your service provider. If phoning from a mobile please check with your mobile operator. All our calls are recorded for training purposes.