Équité Association Launch Marks Milestone Moment for Crime Prevention Across Insurance Industry

• New anti-fraud organization to combat multi-million-dollar insurance fraud problem that exploits vulnerable consumers
• Members to benefit from centralized approach with experienced investigation and analytics teams

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Today, Équité Association formally launches as the Canadian insurance industry’s unified front against insurance fraud and exploitation. Insurance fraud and crime are a growing multi-million-dollar societal issue that results in higher premiums, wasted resources and consumer exploitation.

As technology evolves, insurance crimes have become more pervasive and require more effort and focus to protect Canadians. Équité’s launch is the result of an industry need for a central and focused strategy to keep insurance fraud out of Canada.

As a national, independent not-for-profit, Équité will integrate the widely reputable Investigative Services Division (ISD) from the Insurance Bureau of Canada with enhanced analytics capabilities. In the first half of 2021 and with pandemic restrictions, savings for the property & casualty (P&C) insurance industry, as supported by the efforts of the ISD, are valued at an estimated $34.4 million for stolen vehicle and commercial cargo recoveries. This strong starting point was without the benefit of having analytics integrated with investigations.

Équité is purposefully built as an independent organization to ensure transparency and deliver a centralized approach for members. Its membership – representing the top P&C insurers in Canada – will collaborate with Équité’s analytics and investigation teams to detect and prevent fraud and crime across the industry, while governing the association through representation on its Board of Directors.

President and CEO Terri O’Brien, one of Canada’s foremost leaders on fraud and risk strategies, who was appointed in April 2021, intends to take a collaborative, results-focused approach to make meaningful progress in the fight against insurance fraud.

“Through Équité, members will have access to an advanced network dedicated to detecting and preventing insurance fraud and crime, including: advanced analytics and countermeasures, investigative services, intelligence education and engagement, and reporting on emerging threats and trends,” said O’Brien. She will be supported by a Board that has industry representation and expertise from Canada’s biggest insurers and agencies, led by Équité Association Board Chair and Aviva Canada CEO, Jason Storah.

“Insurance fraud is a very real and increasingly sophisticated problem for consumers, insurers, law enforcement and government,” said Storah. “Équité will proactively tackle it using world-class analytics and investigative techniques along with transparency on the outcomes to make progress in the fight against insurance fraud.”

About Équité Association

Équité is a Canadian company, in its inaugural year, committed to a more equitable world by tackling and reducing insurance crime. Insurance crime is a serious matter and becoming more pervasive through technology and digitalization. Équité strives to detect and prevent insurance crime in support of Canadian insurers through advanced analytics, intelligent best practices, and coordinated investigations. Équité was created by the industry to integrate the cross-insurer data analytics operations from CANATICS and the Investigative Services Division (ISD) of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC). Équité continues leading edge investigations on vehicle and hard-asset theft & recovery services. Greater than the sum of its parts, Équité is an independent, not-for-profit organization, expanding the reach and impact of both founding teams while augmenting data, technology, and investigations to serve as a central point for insurance crime data and approaches across Canada.

Learn more by visiting www.equiteassociation.com.

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Media
Hailey MacKinnon
Argyle PR

hmackinnon@argylepr.com

647-323-8665

Source: Équité Association