INSURANCE SECTOR IS GEARED UP TO SET THE ROAD AHEAD TO COMBAT INSURANCE FRAUD AT THE INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE FRAUD CONFERENCE 2010 HELD ON 5 TO 6 JULY 2010.

Monday 14/06/2010

KUALA LUMPUR, 14 June 2010 –

In a fluctuating economy which tends to put many individuals and businesses into financial difficulties, insurance fraud becomes more rampant and complicated. Lawbreakers have become more organised, systematic and sophisticated in the presence of advancement in technology and telecommunication systems. As reported by the Insurance Services Malaysia Berhad (ISM) in 2008, RM 500 million bogus insurance claims are detected in a year. This definitely contributes to the additional cost to the customers on premiums due to escalating claims costs as the result of fraudulent claims.

Thus, an effective management of fraud is no longer just about regulation and compliance but it also means protecting the market and consumers. This can be achieved by putting in place adequate fraud detection processes and technology whilst at the same time obtaining the necessary knowledge and skills, commented The Malaysian Insurance Institute’s (MII) Chief Executive Officer, Puan. Khadijah Abdullah.

Against this backdrop, The Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII), together with the National Insurance Claim Society (NICS) and the Association of Malaysian Loss Adjusters (AMLA) will jointly-organise the International Insurance Fraud Conference 2010 (IIFC 2010) at the Le Meridian Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, from 5 to 6 July 2010. This international conference is also supported by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) and The Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM). This event will be officiated by Yang Bahagia Tuan Jelaing Anak Mersat, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (2)

According to the Chairman of IIFC 2010, Tuan Haji Tarmidzi Ahmad Nordin, “This conference is timely as insurance frauds tend to intensify during an economic down-turn. This act to deceive insurance companies may occur in ‘hard fraud’ and ‘soft fraud’. I believe most insurance companies are vigilant and do take tough stand against the co-called ‘hard fraud’, which mainly refers to the acts committed by professional fraudsters to collect money illegally. However, ‘soft fraud’ which refers to the exaggeration of information and claims made to the insurance companies is not given much attention. Thus, we need to increase public awareness that everyone pays for insurance frauds as to everyone must join to fight it off which also includes consumer groups, lawmakers, insurance companies, doctors, lawyers and medias”.

Pn Khadijah added, “The two-day conference with the theme “The Road Ahead in Combating Insurance Fraud” will prove to be a head turner. The serious issues on insurance fraud that will be discussed at this forum will amongst others include challenges of managing fraud losses, the local and international industry’s responses to combating insurance fraud, crash analysis in insurance fraud investigation, legal matters, fraud case studies and fraud detection in selected insurance policies”.

The event will bring in together 17 renowned leading speakers from the local and international level namely, Mr Ng Lian Lu from LIAM, Mr Goh Ching On from PIAM , Madam Koid Swee Lian from BNM, Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohamad from Social Security Organisation, Dr David Quek from Malaysian Medical Association, Mr Paul Hurrell from IAG New Zealand and many more. The conference will be chaired by Tuan Haji Tarmidzi Ahmad Nordin from Adjunct Professor of Universiti Teknologi MARA(UITM).

The conference is expected to attract 150 local and international participants.

SOURCE: Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII)

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
MII Conference Department
TEL : 03-2087 8882

NAME: Azizi (ext. 360)
NAME: Badrul (ext 361)
NAME: Fazlan (ext 407)
NAME: Linda (ext 511)

WEB : www.insurance.org.my

DATE OF RELEASE: 14 JUNE 2010
RELEASED BY BERNAMA MEDIA RELATIONS & EVENT MANAGEMENT