Insurance fraud costs more than Cdn$200 million in 2005

Property and casualty insurance claims containing some element of fraud cost Canadians anywhere between $200 million and $300 million in 2005, according to statistics released in November at a Toronto roundtable exploring fraud in Canada.

“Industry statistics estimate that of the Cdn$20 billion paid out last year in property and casualty insurance claims, 20% to 30% contained some element of fraud – either opportunistic or premeditated,” according to a news release issued by MakePlain Corporation, a North American service provider in business Intelligence, data warehousing, data migration and advanced analytics.

“None of us like to pay higher premiums for our home, health, auto or business insurance, and clearly we are now seeing a critical tipping point in how far consumers are willing to go to avoid those increased costs,” MakePlain Corporation co-founder and CEO Gary Saarenvirta said in a press release.

“While the Canadian health care industry, on the one hand, and the property and casualty insurance industry on the other, recognize the growing problem of fraud, few players have incorporated meaningful fraud detection systems into their operations.” Saarenvirta said organizations are “continuing to operate in a fiscally irresponsible manner,” choosing to simply pass on fraud-related costs to consumers.