AMAZING ETHICAL DILEMMA..OR IS IT?

A new nationwide research / digital consultancy company Customertimes has shown that the cost of living crisis has forced Americans to abandon some ethicl aspects that were once common,, with 1 in 5 admitting they’ve considered committing insurance fraud.
Customertimes surveyed  2,000 adults in the US to see how the downturn, tech adoption and insurance providers’ policies affect the insurance industry — and unveiled some surprising findings.

“Out of desperation, or for financial gain”, many turn to fraud — and go through with it:

• 1 in 5 respondents told us they had at least considered committing insurance fraud, with half of those (1 in 10 overall) saying that they had gone through with their plans

• 30% of respondents said knew someone who’d at least considered committing insurance fraud, with half of those doing the crime

• Nearly half of those committing insurance fraud did so out of desperation or financial gain. 35% were influenced by their peers, while 25% were simply unaware of the consequences.

Blaming insurance policies and loopholes, many justify insurance fraud:

• 45% believe that loopholes in policies made insurance fraud easier

• 1 in 4 think that unfair insurance policies justify breaking the rules

• 2 in 3 say that companies that commit insurance fraud are a bigger problem than individuals

Few are happy with how insurance companies are handling the issue of fraud:

• Just 1 in 6 fully trust insurance companies to detect and prevent fraud

• 65% don’t think that insurance companies fairly compensate fraud victims

• Nearly 60% say that communicating with insurance providers is too complicated, and 80% would trust insurance companies more if they weren’t so bureaucratic

• 1 in 3 are unable to define what even counts as insurance fraud, and 57% think that insurance providers need to do a better job at educating consumers

Many trust technologies to improve fraud detection — and happy to collaborate:

• 71% believe that technology like AI and data analytics will help prevent insurance fraud

• 66% would be willing to share more personal data if it could help prevent fraud and potentially lower premiums

Drew Sickler, VP Salesforce at Customertimes, summarized it:

“In the face of a global economic crunch, desperation sometimes drives people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t – including committing insurance fraud. While fraud may be rising, technology is providing valuable means to prevent it, including using data analytics, predictive modeling, and image/text analysis to detect false claims quickly. For consumers, this means faster claims processing and quicker payouts, offering much-needed financial support promptly. Moreover, stopping fraud helps lower costs for insurers, potentially driving down the price of premiums for honest policyholders.”

Hope he’s right, but as prices rise – see our cover story – it may be a dauntingly difficult proposition, a moral one, at a time and for generations not well schooled in the humanities, i.e. ethics as taught traditionally in a church, synagogue, mosque or — wait for it – college classroom.