Allianz establishes specialist team to identify fraud

In what it claims is an insurance industry first, Allianz has established a specialist casualty claims validation team, which it predicts could identify up to £15m of fraud next year.

Mihir Pandya, Allianz fraud manager, said the insurer had experienced rising levels of suspicious employers' and public liability claims and that the team had been formed to tackle this increased fraud threat.

"If you look at the motor arena there's much better data available and the sharing of information is working well. The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) is dealing well with the 'cash for crash' fraudsters. However, these organised gangs are moving into other areas," he added.

Mr Pandya said it