In a recent interview with Insurance Business, Jennifer Wells, head of crime at Aviva UK, highlighted some of the key ways in which a crime insurance policy can help businesses protect their balance sheets.
During the discussion, Wells and her colleague Simon Bailey, senior underwriter, crime and financial lines, at Aviva UK, revealed how businesses are still being beset by fraud today, and highlighted the role technology has had in reshaping the fraud landscape. Wells emphasised the continued threat of internal fraud, and how it’s enhanced by how an ‘inside job’ can go undiscovered for years.
She noted that that this can be the most damaging situation for a company to have to deal with because the enemy within can often wreak the most havoc and yet employers will say, “We trust our employees and we’ve got internal controls to protect against fraud.”
“You only need one disgruntled employee to find a way around internal controls to have the opportunity and ability to commit fraud,” Wells said. “The modus operandi behind each fraud is different and can reflect more tragic personal circumstances.”
Bailey also noted that a lot of these types of losses tend to be discovered within 12 to 24 months of their occurrence, so any fraud taking place during the disruption of the pandemic era will only be starting to come to light now.
During the interview, the Aviva colleagues highlighted that while the demand for crime products is high, it can vary from client to client and requires the educational investment of both the insured and brokers.
“With global financial uncertainty, it is better to seek cover now for those losses that have yet to be discovered,” Bailey said. “You need to find a product to cover yourself against your past losses and also your future losses as well.”
Read more: The necessity of commercial crime insurance
