BIBA welcomes acceptance of Insurance Fraud Taskforce recommendations

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has welcomed the news that the UK Government has accepted recommendations made by the Insurance Fraud Taskforce, which BIBA is a member of, along with other industry bodies and stakeholders.

The key recommendations included in the taskforce’s 2016 manifesto included a call for government to review the ways in which fraudulent late claims can be discouraged through changes to court costs and evidences rules.

This included directing older claims to the small claims process rather than the fast track process, reducing recoverable costs by 50 percent if an injury claim is notified late, and introducing a damages award range for soft tissue injuries.

Another recommendation included demanding that the Solicitor’s’ Regulation Authority (SRA) be tougher on fraud by working with the Claims Management Companies’ (CMC) regulator to properly and strongly enforce referral fee bans. In addition, to ensure that organisations not currently regulated are brought into the regime.

The Taskforce also called on the government to develop and deliver a coherent regulatory strategy to clamp down nuisance calls and texts to reduce the number of honest customers being coerced into making spurious claims.

Graeme Trudgill, BIBA executive director, said: “Fraud has affected the industry and its customers for too long and this year we are really seeing a concerted effort to tackle this scourge. As well as implementing the recommendations that resulted from the hard work of the Insurance Fraud Taskforce, the changes announced earlier this year to the regulation of claims management companies will really make a dent in this problem creating fairer outcomes for customers and insurers alike.”