Communities rally over CTP insurance fraud
Anonymous tip-offs have been helping fuel the NSW Government's Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Fraud Taskforce launched last month to examine irregular claims patterns and possible exaggerations of medical expenses and injuries within the CTP insurance scheme.
Statistics from SIRA show Sydney alone experienced a 39 per cent increase in the number of CTP insurance claims between 2007 and 2014, despite a steady fall in the number of road accident victims recorded in hospitals within the same time period.
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), which sits on the Taskforce, has made the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Australia (IFBA) Fraud Hotline available to the State Regulatory Insurance Authority (SIRA) to support the scheme, which has opened up co-operation between the public and insurers.
"Since the launch of the Taskforce in March, the fraud hotline has received tipoffs from concerned citizens who have identified suspicious CTP claims," said IFBA spokesman Laurie Ratz.
"Several of these tipoffs have been steered to insurance companies for thorough review and investigation."
Community members who contact the IFBA can remain anonymous in line with federal and state privacy laws, with all information vetted and passed to insurers for further investigation.
Insurance fraud costs are estimated at almost $75 extra per CTP premium, meaning the community is left to foot the bill when dodgy claims are left to lie. Mr Ratz stated that IFBA is calling on the community to get involved with the fraud initiative, which could help save billions.
"IFBA estimates 8 to 9 per cent of all insurance claims may be fraudulent, costing Australians more than $2 billion every year," he said.
AUTHOR
Hope William-Smith
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