SRA welcomes Insurance Task Force report
Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has welcomed the Ministry of Justice's report on insurance fraud and will be working even more closely with other agencies in a bid to crack down further on fraudulent claims.
The Insurance Task Force published its report yesterday (Monday 18 January). It claimed that more could be done to tackle solicitors helping bogus insurance claims, which might be happening either unwittingly or knowingly.
Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive, said: "Insurance fraud is a serious matter and we welcome the Task Force's report and its recommendations. In particular, the Task Force called on the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to adopt the civil standard of proof and we agree that has to be the right way forward. Alongside that, reviewing our fining powers would make the system more efficient and effective.
"We have, I think, made good progress on combating financial crime, not least in connection with the Home Office's professional enablers scheme, along with our own anti money laundering work. But we know we have more to do and the report will help us with that. We will also be carrying out a comprehensive review of the personal injury market this year and that will contribute further to our understanding of this area of the market.”
The SRA is a member of the Insurance Fraud Investigators Group and works closely with insurers on this matter. It also has a dedicated officer linking with all insurers to investigate potential involvement in fraudulent activity.
The report can be found here.
