GoCompare becomes first comparison website to join the Insurance Fraud Bureau

The IFB is a not-for-profit organisation that acts as a conduit of information for the insurance industry, to help in the fight against fraud. This allows comparison websites, like GoCompare, to check suspicious entities against data and quickly receive an indication of whether there are suspicions of fraud.

This move builds on GoCompare’s existing efforts to tackle fraud, having partnered with Featurespace in December, to incorporate real time machine-learning to spot anomalies, block new fraud, and recognise genuine customers.  

For insurers partnering with GoCompare, the fraud detection and prevention technologies available will enable customised, real-time risk management, reducing the strain and costs on insurers’ own fraud teams.

Fleur Lewis, head of fraud at GoCompare, said: “The IFB plays an important role in industry leading the collective fight against organised fraud and we’re thrilled to become the first UK comparison website to join the Insurance Fraud Bureau as an official member. We have been working alongside the IFB for several years and becoming a member will enhance our current fraud capabilities to protect both our partners and customers alike.

“Being a comparison website, we’re very aware that we act as the guardians of data for many insurers and we have an important role to play in the prevention of front-end fraud.

“We believe it’s our duty to support the industry in any way we can by identifying fraudulent behaviour and having this additional intelligence from the IFB increases our preventive measures at point-of-quote. These capabilities enable insurers to assess the risk in real-time and either decline the business or price accurately to ensure all parties are suitably protected.

“Our ambition is to provide insurers with genuine, quality customers, reducing their operational costs and fraud losses, thereby allowing them to continue to provide our users with excellent cover.”

Nick Benham, Head of Customer Services at the Insurance Fraud Bureau, added: “Price comparison websites are on the front-line of the fight against fraud, with access to a wealth of data and intelligence on suspected fraudulent activity. It is therefore strategically important that the industry forges close links with comparison websites in order to reduce the opportunities for fraudsters and ensure our honest customers are not impacted.

“We are therefore delighted to welcome GoCompare to the IFB’s membership, which will further strengthen the Bureau’s capability to detect and disrupt organised fraud.”    

GoCompare’s anti-fraud project will continue to develop over the next 12 months, with further insights, developments and fraud prevention capabilities.

For further information, including pictures or interview requests, please contact:

GoCompare:

Anders Nilsson - 01633 654 054 / anders.nilsson@gocompare.com 

Louisa Marsden - 01633 655 132 / louisa.marsden@gocompare.com

Insurance Fraud Bureau:

Christopher Little – 07595 792810 / clittle@mib.org.uk

About the Insurance Fraud Bureau

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), is a not-for-profit company established in 2006 to lead the insurance industry's collective fight against insurance fraud.

They act as a central hub for sharing insurance fraud data and intelligence, using their unique position at the heart of the industry and unrivalled access to data to detect and disrupt organised fraud networks.

As well as helping insurers identify fraud and avoid the financial consequences, the IFB support police, regulators and other law enforcement agencies in finding fraudsters and bringing them to justice. 

About GoCompare Group plc

GoCompare.com Group plc operates GoCompare, a leading UK financial services, utilities and home services comparison website; MyVoucherCodes, which is a digital media and affiliate marketing specialist that connects consumers with money saving offers from the world's leading brands; Energylinx, an established energy switching and comparison service with more energy supplier relationships than any other UK comparison provider; and weflip, an innovative switching service that uses technology to automatically flip people onto cheap energy tariffs, forever. 

GoCompare attracts approximately five million visits every month and is designed to help people save time and money.

When GoCompare launched in 2006 it disrupted the insurance market as the first comparison website to display policy details rather than just listing prices. GoCompare’s goal was then, and still is now, to help people make better-informed buying decisions that save them time and money. 

MyVoucherCodes.co.uk is one of the UK’s biggest discount voucher websites. It launched in November 2006 and provides sales, discount and voucher code information to millions of consumers across the UK every month.

Each week, MyVoucherCodes send a variety of emails with the best selection of deals, vouchers and offers across fashion, restaurants, electronics, travel, beauty and more to its eight million email subscribers. 

Energylinx is a domestic and business energy comparison and switching service that, through its market-leading supplier relationships, helps its customer find, compare and switch to the best value energy tariffs.

Based in Alloa, Scotland, Energylinx is also a trusted provider of white-labelled energy comparison services to over 200 partners, including some of the UK’s best-known consumer organisations, including Which?.

weflip is a completely free to use automatic switching service.  After customers sign up, weflip simply switches them onto better energy tariffs automatically, doing all the hard work on their behalf, so they never have to worry about overspending on energy ever again.

GoCompare.com Group plc uses data gathered from more than 20 million customers over the last 11 years to underpin its drive to continually improve its proposition and leverage its strong position.

The Group is also an investor in Souqalmal.com, the leading comparison business in the Middle East; and in promising fintech start up MortgageGym, the mortgage robo-adviser.