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News Release

Insurance Bureau of Canada warns consumers about phone fraud scam - November 13, 2008

Insurance Crime

Insurance Bureau of Canada’s (IBC’s) primary goal in providing investigative services is to protect the premiums of honest policyholders by ensuring that insurance companies pay only legitimate and honest claims.

IBC has an 80-year history of providing investigative services to Canada’s home, car and business insurers. IBC focuses its investigative efforts on organized insurance crime rings – specifically, rings involved in auto theft and/or filing fraudulent injury claims. In Canada, organized insurance crime continues to be a destructive and costly offence and represents a significant cost to insurers and policyholders; the annual cost of auto theft, alone, is $542 million.

And IBC is uniquely positioned to combat insurance crime

• Effective lobbyist. As the voice of Canada’s home, car and business insurers, IBC can lobby governments for legislative changes that would deter insurance criminals. For example, IBC has requested that auto theft be recognized as a serious, violent crime (rather than a mere property crime) in both the Criminal Code of Canada and the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
• Cross-country data. As a national association, IBC has access to insurance crime data from across the country, which it uses to detect trends within and across regions.
• Investigative body. IBC is designated as an investigative body under federal privacy legislation – the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) – meaning it is able to exchange information with insurers for the purposes of preventing and detecting insurance crime.
• Experienced investigators. IBC’s investigators have extensive insurance and policing experience. They have the unique knowledge and technological tools required for investigating organized criminal activity related to insurance.
• Crime-fighting partners. IBC is a trusted partner with other insurance-crime-fighting agencies nationally and internationally. These partnerships mean that important information gets shared between IBC and, for example, police forces, making for effective investigations and increasing the likelihood of charges being laid.

IBC has an excellent track record as an investigative force. Every year, the work of IBC’s investigative services results in millions of dollars in savings for insurance companies and their policyholders.

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