The fight against insurance fraud is often an “after the event” issue, with insurers and lawyers battling it out with possible fraudsters in court. However, what if we could get to the fraudsters as soon as a claim is made?
That is what global insurance law firm Kennedys is hoping will be achieved after it reached the culmination of a two-year collaboration with the University of Manchester. Together they have implemented a next generation fraud prevention software that supports insurance claims handling through data analytics, machine learning, intelligent modelling methodologies and semantic technologies. Now, Kennedys wants to extend this into a separately funded project with the hope that it will go beyond fraud and also encompass the automation of all claim outcomes.
The knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) has already reaped rewards for the law firm, which generated at least £15 million of new revenue in the UK alone last year. Now, Dr Xi Liu, who joined Kennedys as part of the partnership in 2018, is set to stay on as a data scientist within Kennedys IQ.
“The past two years have demonstrated the value of KTPs for all those involved,” said Kennedys partner Richard West. “Our KTP advisor from Innovate UK and the KTP officer from the University of Manchester were very experienced and supportive, and together we delivered a high-quality project ahead of schedule and to everyone’s total satisfaction.
“The insight the work has given us, and the software we have developed, will greatly benefit our clients and our continuing work to help them manage claims in less time, at a lower cost and with better outcomes.”
Meanwhile, head of fraud Martin Stockdale noted that systems need to “up their game” as fraud becomes more sophisticated.
“This KTP has been critical in helping us take automated fraud detection across the industry to the next level,” he said.
