Insurance fraud due to climatic phenomena quadruples in 10 years and rises 800% in Murcia and Tarragona

Artificial Intelligence is the order of the day, and its functions already allow the detection of possible fraud attempts made to insurers by their customers. The 'XI AXA Map of fraud in Spain', presented this Tuesday, estimates that by 2023, 33% of the total of these frauds have been detected thanks to digital means, compared to the 3% recorded 10 years ago.

Until the advent of these new technologies, 97% of these fraud attempts were detected manually, specifically through processors who managed to avoid scams worth more than 47 million euros, 76% of the total. Today, this figure is down to 67%, in favor of these techniques.

These technologies enable early detection when reporting a claim. Artificial intelligence is already able to identify which parts are not real and have been modified in some way.

In addition, AI also allows the creation of automatic alerts based on information about the claim and its context. For this, it relies on past patterns and behaviors that it has been collecting and assimilating. Through this process, it has been determined that 1 out of every 3 alerts for suspected document fraud turns out to be true.

In general terms, the cases of fraud detected in Spain have increased by 57% over the last decade, amounting to 23,889. This has meant that, for the same period, the fraud rate in Spain grew from 0.95% to 1.9%, remaining stable at the latter figure since the pandemic.

Fraud has increased by 7% over the last 10 years, with a high incidence in cases of rainfall, more than half of the cases recorded. In the Mediterranean area, these fraud attempts have been multiplied by more than 600%, due to the meteorological trends experienced in the area in recent years.

Of the total number of frauds, during the last year 57% of the registered attempts have been opportunistic, that is to say, trying to take advantage of a real accident to obtain more benefits. As for premeditated frauds, this figure remains at 39.4%, while organized schemes have fallen to 3%.

Madrid and Catalonia, among the least fraudulent regions

By autonomous communities, Catalonia, Madrid, the Basque Country and Castilla la Mancha recorded the lowest number of attempts to defraud insurers in the country. These positions have been maintained over the last few years.

The regions with the highest fraud rates, including Andalusia, Melilla and Navarre, also remain in their positions.