Insurance Industry Needs an Image Overhaul to Combat Fraud

Filed under: Asset Education, Photo Asset Archival, Protecting by Lizz @ 5:01 pm on June 14, 2008

A recent conversation with a former insurance industry executive left me speechless. He stated that 40% of all insurance claims involved fraud. I did some research and found that insurance fraud is indeed more widespread, and more costly than I or the many people I have since queried on this subject thought.
The increase in fraudulent claims seems to be a result of both a breakdown in societal morals and society’s perception that the insurance industry operates in an unprincipled fashion. I believe both rationales have some basis in truth. It would be preposterous to blame the insurance industry for the breakdown in societal morals; however, it would be sensible to suggest that they are culpable for perpetrating the trend. Instead of placing protections in place to curb insurance fraud, the industry has adopted the practice of passing on their losses to the consumer in every policy purchased.
The Insurance Information Institute reports that “fraudulent property/casualty insurance claims cost insurers about $30 billion annually.” Knowing that this is the case, why don’t insurance companies offer a premium reduction for policyholders who have an up-to-date inventory of their insured property? It would expedite the claims process, save the industry time and money, and over time take a considerable bite out of the fraud problem. Offering consumers an annual discount, in exchange for a policy review and updated inventory, would have an even greater benefit to the community as a whole, because in the event of a disaster rebuilding and the purchase of goods and services would occur at a faster rate. The industry offers discounts for fire/burglar alarms, deadbolts, and fire-activated sprinkler systems; why not a tool that would make both the consumer and the insurance company accountable?
Having said this, it seems to me that the bigger question is how does the industry combat a situation that costs them billions of dollars annually when they have an image problem that seemingly begets fraud? If the industry pursued a program of image overhaul, they could make reasonable profits, while passing on savings to the consumer. If consumers had a reasonable expectation that their claims would be paid in a timely fashion and for the full extent of the covered event, the amount of fraud would be vastly reduced. If the insurance industry adopted “inventory standards,” these standards would enable agents to educate consumers about their policy-specific needs for peril, flood, wind, and earthquake, as well as riders, floaters, and inland marine policies for items not generally covered by the types previously mentioned. This in and of itself would have an immediate and positive effect on industry image as consumers would see the benefit of knowing what their choices are before they find themselves hearing “claim denied” because they did not have the proper insurance.

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to our RSS feed!

« Open For Business or the Victim of Disaster? Are You Prepared? To Be Or Not To Be PREPARED! It’s Time for an Insurance Policy Review. »