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Ian Phillips fills newly created fraud manager role

Ian Phillips fills newly created fraud manager role

Posted on Jan 23, 2020

We're pleased to announce that Principal Insurance have recruited former Swinton fraud insurance specialist Ian Phillips as fraud manager. Phillips has been appointed to the newly created role as part of a wider anti-fraud drive launched last year. An Accredited Counter Fraud Technician, Ian spent nearly a decade with Swinton’s anti-fraud team. He joined as a fraud investigator in November 2009 with successive promotions seeing him become a financial crime and data protection analysts, interim fraud manager and fraud intelligence specialist. Immediately prior to joining Principal he spent six months contracted as an intelligence officer at the National Anti Fraud Network. There his responsibilities included supporting NAFN members in handling criminal investigations and sourcing data and evidence to assist prosecutions.

Tackling insurance fraud

His appointment forms part of our wider strategy for tackling fraud which is a growing problem for the industry. The Association of British Insurers reported that last year detected fraud grew by three per cent, with 1,300 frauds uncovered daily. In 2019 our group made a significant investment in the SIRA fraud prevention and detection solution. This incorporates a national and constantly updated cross-sector fraud database. It harnesses information drawn from over 130 financial services, retail and telecommunications businesses as well as the government’s National Fraud Initiative dataset. It is claimed that since its inception in 2004, SIRA has identified and defended against almost £4 billion of fraud in the UK, Canadian and US insurance and banking sectors.

Continued investment

“Ian’s appointment further signals our commitment to meet head on the challenges presented by what is an escalating industry-wide issue,” commented Principal’s managing director, Dave Bowcock. “As a growing broker we have been targeted by fraudsters and acted decisively to combat the threat they represent. Ian’s experience and expertise, coupled with continued investment in software solutions, will be key in what will be an ongoing battle.”
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