Fraud costs $1.3 billion It'S ONE of Canada’s costliest crimes. The insurance industry spends $1.3 billion a year to pay fraudulent claims. That is one of the main findings of the National Task Force on Insurance Fraud, whose report was released in March. The task force, chaired by Insurance Bureau of Canada president George Anderson, spent six months researching the cost and causes of insurance fraud, as well as public perceptions and attitudes. Insurance fraud was defined as both opportunistic (inflating legitimate claims) and organized (premeditat- ed criminal behavior). In response to the findings, the task force has called for a Coalition Against Fraud to combat this crime. The insurance industry has invited police, firefighters, gov- ernment and consumers to join them in the new’ coali- tion. Task force research — which included file studies, literature searches, interviews, surveys and focus groups — found that insurance fraud affects at least 10% to 15% of property and casualty claims in Canada. Among the other key findings were these facts: 38% of Canadians understand that fraud is a factor in premium increases. Still, Canadians don't view most types of fraud as criminal but as understandable, com- parable to fudging on your income tax return. {) People are likely to rationalize claim padding to make up for the deductible or to recoup premiums paid in the past. Q Just over half of consumers say it’s up to insurers to crack down on fraud. Only 4% say that the police should be responsible. Q While many insurance companies have already stepped up their individual anti-fraud investigations, creating a Coalition Against Fraud is an example of how the industry as a whole is taking the action expect- ed by the public. Initially, the coalition will focus on three areas: altering industry practices, bringing about changes to government regulations, and raising public awareness of fraud as a crime. The task force also recommended that the industry establish a fraud protocol that would outline the indus- try’s commitment to halt the growth of fraud, “The effects of fraud reach far beyond the relation- ship between the person committing fraud and the insurance company,” said Anderson, “As well as inflating the cost of insurance, insurance fraud places severe strains on community resources such as fire. police and healthcare services.” Apart from the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the task force members included the Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau; the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers’ Association; the Insurance Brokers’ Association of Canada; aac the Canadian Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. 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