Efforts tied to Sedgwick’s international claims fraud strategy saved its clients £49.4m in 2023, the provider has claimed.

The first quarter of 2023 saw continued double-digit inflation, which placed added financial pressure on motorists, homeowners and businesses alike, and contributed to an 8% increase in claims identified as suspect across Sedgwick’s UK book of business.

Further, the average cost of investigated claims increased in 2023 — an uplift driven not only by inflation, but also by a spike in fraudulently exaggerated, high-value escape of water claims made during the UK’s winter freeze event in 2022.

“Over the past three years, the value of savings delivered to our UK clients has grown by 73%,” said Ian Carman, director of Sedgwick’s UK fraud and investigation services operation. “This is testament to our unrelenting effort to identify dishonest claims, which in turn protects our clients and their honest customers from the cost of fraud.

“I’m pleased that our ability to deliver these results, which relies on a blend of sophisticated counter-fraud technology solutions and colleague expertise, has been achieved without any detrimental impact to the customer experience. We continue to adapt our strategies to identify and tackle new and emerging fraud risks to deliver better results for our clients and their customers.”

Steve Crystal, head of Sedgwick’s international fraud and investigation services, added that regulators are taking greater interest in fraud and abuse oversight.

Amid shifting economic and regulatory conditions, Sedgwick’s experts have observed a recent increase in organised fraud rings, which continue to adapt how they target financial services. For example, many are taking inappropriate advantage of the rising popularity of transactional, embedded (no additional charge) insurance benefits, such as travel, medical and purchase protection offerings, by operating across multiple geographies.

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