icon-share

Insurance industry boosts fight against fraud and scams

image

News release

Tuesday, 21 May 2024

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) today announced the appointment of Andrew Gill as Chief Executive Officer of the ICA’s new counter fraud and scams function.

Andrew brings a wealth of experience in investigating insurance fraud, having served for 24 years as a detective in the fraud and cybercrime squad for the New South Wales Police and more recently as a Forensic Director at McGrathNicol.

In 2023, ICA members detected $560 million cases of opportunistic insurance fraud for motor and property alone, with undetected fraud estimated to cost the insurance industry around $400 million a year.

These undetected cases drive up insurance premiums and are resulting in significant harm to customers and the economy.

The counter fraud and scam function will provide an industry-wide capability focused on detecting organised fraud networks and identifying emerging fraud-related trends or criminal scams.

The function will collaborate with ICA members to collect intelligence on organised fraud to increase the capability of insurers in detecting and stopping insurance fraud, in addition to working with governments and their agencies in their renewed efforts to combat and fraud scams.

Quote attributable to counter fraud function CEO Andrew Gill:

Organised fraud is costing the insurance industry millions of dollars each year, and this cost is reflected in everybody’s insurance premiums.

By reducing fraud, we can have an impact on the cost of a premium and ensure that insurance customers are not paying for the unlawful and unfair acts of organised crime.

I look forward to starting in this new role and working alongside the Insurance Council and its members to reduce the impact of insurance fraud.

Quote attributable to Insurance Council of Australia CEO Andrew Hall:

On behalf of the Insurance Council and its members, I welcome Andrew to the counter fraud and scam team, where I know his years of knowledge and expertise will be a great asset in guiding this important work.

Andrew will lead the new function as it becomes a standalone entity, external to the ICA, working with insurers to reduce the cost of fraud and scams to insurance customers and the community.

 

Send this to a friend