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.