Insurance Fraud Bureau

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Peterborough City Council is the first unitary authority and one of only four councils in the country to have signed up to a new fraud service.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has been set up to provide cross-industry intelligence about insurance claims in a bid to protect honest claimants and identify potentially fraudulent networks.

Bogus and inflated insurance claims cost more than £1.5 billion a year which adds an extra five per cent on to the premiums paid by honest policy holders. The IFB was formed to provide a cost effective tactical solution to detect and tackle cross-industry insurance fraud.

The bureau will be officially launched on 26 July, by chairman John Beadle, counter fraud manager at insurance group Royal & SunAlliance. Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Caerphilly county councils are the only other local authorities to have signed up.

Sue Addison, senior insurance officer for Peterborough City Council, said: “As part of the council's commitment to combating fraud, we have subscribed to the Claims Underwriting Exchange database since 2004.

“This provides information that assists in the identification of potentially fraudulent claims, allowing resources to be concentrated in a higher level of investigation of these cases. This also allows genuine claims to be fast-tracked, to ensure the highest level of service to our customers.

The new Insurance Fraud Bureau will be an excellent service to allow insurers and compensators such as Peterborough City Council to share intelligence and so curb the escalation of insurance fraud.”

Councillor Stephen Goldspink, Cabinet member for Efficiency and Business, said: “I am delighted that Peterborough City Council has decided to join this network to enable us to share information with other authorities and insurers. It is yet another way the council is striving to become as effective and efficient as possible.”

July 2006