ICICI Lombard focussing on forensics to detect fraud

ICICI Lombard is planning to use forensic methods to detect fraud in claims by customers, in the backdrop of rising incidents in this regard and loan defaults. Lokanath Kar, its chief legal and principal compliance officer, told they had empanelled experts to detect cases where fraudulent claims had been made by companies facing a financial squeeze or like issues. In cases of corporate fraud or default being reported every other day, insurance companies are trying to pre-empt prospective losses, he said. On a petition filed by the ICICI Lombard regarding fraud in vehicle insurance claims, the Allahabad High Court had in October 2015 directed the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute a Special Task Force (STF) to probe these. “Since then, the SIT has detected 126 fraudulent cases worth Rs 230 million in the state. Police cases have also been filed in 60 cases by the SIT,” says Kar. Similar SITs had been formed in Delhi, Odisha and Rajasthan, while petitions were pending in Gujarat and Karnataka. In Delhi, the SIT was formed in September 2017.