Tackling Insurance Fraud with Advanced Tracking Solutions

Fraud might sound like something reserved for Hollywood movies or tabloid articles. However, it costs the insurance industry billions of pounds on an annual basis whilst raising the premiums for honest policyholders. With this in mind, it’s important for businesses to consider any strategies that might address this issue.

In this article we will explore how advanced tracking solutions in the field of freight, delivery and fleet management can be used to help tackle insurance fraud.

Understanding the problem

In the world of motor insurance, fraud can range from simple exaggerated claims to incidents of accidents that have been staged, all the way to false reports of theft. These are all fraudulent activities that put a strain on the resources of insurance companies by compromising the integrity within the claims process. Unfortunately, all too often this type of fraud can extend beyond opportunistic claimers, sometimes including repairer network fraud.

How can advanced tracking solutions help 

There are a number of different ways in which insurance fraud can be tackled. However, advanced tracking solutions offer a significant boost to insurance companies.

Through the use of tracking solutions that can be fitted to vehicles, insurers can gather real-time data on the exact usage of a vehicle and also its driver’s behaviour. The data that this technology collects can be instrumental when it comes to verifying the legitimacy of insurance claims. It is of particular benefit when it comes to road vehicle traffic accidents and vehicle thefts.

Advanced tracking solutions can monitor and record how a driver behaves behind the wheel. It collects information on the speed the driver is going, whether they take corners too fast or even whether they slam the brakes on very hard. This is all data that could be indicative of poor driving skills on the road. In the event of an accident, this could help to determine whether the driver of the vehicle was likely to be responsible for the accident.

Stolen vehicles

Advanced tracking solutions offer vehicle owners a great deal of protection against theft, along with being great tools for the retrieval of vehicles. They can set up alerts to their mobile devices that tell them if their vehicle has been moved without their knowledge. This allows them to alert the police to potential theft and often result in the recovery of the vehicle before any lasting damage is done.

This ability to track stolen vehicles through GPS tracking means that it is possible to establish that a vehicle has been lost or stolen and is not part of a fraudulent claim.

Many insurance companies now offer discounts to customers who have advanced tracking solutions fitted to their vehicles. The benefit is twofold; having a tracker is a way of helping to reduce car thefts and helping to disprove/eliminate insurance claims that are made fraudulently.

Advanced tracking solutions

Whilst some newer vehicles come with GPS fitted, the practice is yet to become standard issue across the vehicle industry. The cost of fitting advanced tracking solutions to a car(s) may be off-putting – especially for those in charge of larger fleet operations. However, the reduction in insurance that this can bring, from the peace of mind that comes from knowing your vehicle is protected, far outweighs these initial costs.

With insurance premiums on the rise, in part due to insurance fraud, there is little doubt that having the right advanced tracking solutions fitted to your vehicle can provide significant benefits. These benefits go beyond the increased likelihood of retrieving your car in the event of theft. They help to tackle insurance fraud, which will ultimately help to avoid significant hikes in the cost of insurance.