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An assessment of experts’ risk perceptions of motor insurance fraud in Nigeria

An assessment of experts’ risk perceptions of motor insurance fraud in Nigeria
An assessment of experts’ risk perceptions of motor insurance fraud in Nigeria
In recent times, Nigerian motor insurers have experienced a high volume of pay-outs for motor insurance claims. This has significantly decreased the net premium income of the Nigerian insurance market, which has become a major concern for their stakeholders. Anecdotal evidence (e.g., ongoing debates among industry practitioners) suggests that numerous pay-outs are for fraudulent claims and that the prevalence of fraud is due to poor practices within the Nigerian motor insurance industry. However, there has not yet been an empirical assessment of the antecedents, extent, and impact of motor insurance fraud in this market. Therefore, we conducted study that examined fraud risks in motor insurance claims as perceived by experts in the Nigerian insurance industry. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to a representative selection of professionally qualified insurance experts in Nigeria (N=120). The study found that Nigerian insurance experts (i) largely agree (about 94% of respondents) that there is a problematic level of fraud in the Nigerian motor insurance industry; (ii) perceive soft fraud (i.e., exaggeration of genuine losses during a claim process) to be about three times more common than hard fraud (i.e., deliberately creating a loss event that never existed) in the Nigerian motor insurance industry, and (iii) strongly agree that there are problematic impacts from fraud on the solvency of the Nigerian motor insurers. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the existence, extent, and impact of fraud risks within the Nigerian insurance market based on expert knowledge and insights rather than, as has often been the case, on individual anecdotes. These findings can be utilized to improve the extent to which motor insurance fraud is investigated, prevented, and detected and therefore, can help the industry achieve outcomes that are more positive for all stakeholders.
Claims, Fraud, Net premium income, Motor insurance, risk perception
Shoyemi, Olatokunbo Sunday
6dd3e5fa-abc8-47d3-9802-ba0c82fe9f9e
Brito, Mario
82e798e7-e032-4841-992e-81c6f13a9e6c
Dawson, Ian
dff1b440-6c83-4354-92b6-04809460b01a
Shoyemi, Olatokunbo Sunday
6dd3e5fa-abc8-47d3-9802-ba0c82fe9f9e
Brito, Mario
82e798e7-e032-4841-992e-81c6f13a9e6c
Dawson, Ian
dff1b440-6c83-4354-92b6-04809460b01a

Shoyemi, Olatokunbo Sunday, Brito, Mario and Dawson, Ian (2022) An assessment of experts’ risk perceptions of motor insurance fraud in Nigeria. Society for Risk Analysis 2022 Annual Meeting: Global Risks at the Tipping Point, Tampa, Florida, United States. 04 - 08 Dec 2022.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Other)

Abstract

In recent times, Nigerian motor insurers have experienced a high volume of pay-outs for motor insurance claims. This has significantly decreased the net premium income of the Nigerian insurance market, which has become a major concern for their stakeholders. Anecdotal evidence (e.g., ongoing debates among industry practitioners) suggests that numerous pay-outs are for fraudulent claims and that the prevalence of fraud is due to poor practices within the Nigerian motor insurance industry. However, there has not yet been an empirical assessment of the antecedents, extent, and impact of motor insurance fraud in this market. Therefore, we conducted study that examined fraud risks in motor insurance claims as perceived by experts in the Nigerian insurance industry. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to a representative selection of professionally qualified insurance experts in Nigeria (N=120). The study found that Nigerian insurance experts (i) largely agree (about 94% of respondents) that there is a problematic level of fraud in the Nigerian motor insurance industry; (ii) perceive soft fraud (i.e., exaggeration of genuine losses during a claim process) to be about three times more common than hard fraud (i.e., deliberately creating a loss event that never existed) in the Nigerian motor insurance industry, and (iii) strongly agree that there are problematic impacts from fraud on the solvency of the Nigerian motor insurers. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the existence, extent, and impact of fraud risks within the Nigerian insurance market based on expert knowledge and insights rather than, as has often been the case, on individual anecdotes. These findings can be utilized to improve the extent to which motor insurance fraud is investigated, prevented, and detected and therefore, can help the industry achieve outcomes that are more positive for all stakeholders.

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More information

Published date: 8 December 2022
Venue - Dates: Society for Risk Analysis 2022 Annual Meeting: Global Risks at the Tipping Point, Tampa, Florida, United States, 2022-12-04 - 2022-12-08
Keywords: Claims, Fraud, Net premium income, Motor insurance, risk perception

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 473472
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/473472
PURE UUID: f43cb9d0-b084-4f10-8333-56928a934f71
ORCID for Mario Brito: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1779-4535
ORCID for Ian Dawson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0555-9682

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Jan 2023 17:37
Last modified: 18 Oct 2023 01:42

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Contributors

Author: Olatokunbo Sunday Shoyemi
Author: Mario Brito ORCID iD
Author: Ian Dawson ORCID iD

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