Sedgwick’s fraud strategy uncovers £41m savings for clients in 2025

LONDON – Sedgwick, the world’s leading risk and claims administration partner, has reported that initiatives linked to the company’s international claims fraud strategy have resulted in a significant saving of £41m in 2025, totaling an 11% increase on 2024.

Key findings and insights from the 2025 reporting included increases in:

• Fraudulent claims enabled by AI technologies
• Fraudsters using AI to create tactical, unjustified complaints in an attempt to divert attention away from evidence at hand
• False claims fueled by the availability of generative AI tools
• The use of convincing fake documentation
• The adoption of identity fraud as a conduit to making false claims
• The emergence of synthetic identities as a route to targeting insurance claims

Adam Parry, Counter Fraud Operations Director for Sedgwick in the UK said, “I’m delighted to share our result for 2025, which evidences our commitment to protecting insurers from bad actors that negatively impact the honest majority.”

“The introduction of our own AI based counter fraud technology during the year led directly to increased levels of suspect claims being identified and resolved much earlier in the claim lifecycle,” he continued. “Our solution, combined with our wider counter fraud strategy, provides a robust defence against a new breed of fraudsters who unwisely attempt to use AI for financial gain.”

Parry also referenced the fundamental role skilled human intervention plays within the investigation journey, specifically mentioning how “investing in our people and their expertise, in an ever-changing insurance fraud landscape, remains critical in continuing to provide insurers with significant savings.” He also highlighted how the team is “supported by a suite of cutting-edge fraud technology, which allows our colleagues to continue to navigate seamlessly through emerging fraud trends, focused on delivering the right outcomes in a timely fashion.”

Steve Crystal, Sedgwick’s Head of Fraud and Investigation Services, International, illustrated the threat posed by identity fraud. “In one case, a would-be fraudster obtained authentic insurance paperwork from an online document exchange platform, successfully using this to change a genuine policyholder’s contact information and bank account details, subsequently making a modest claim in anticipation of a quick settlement. As it happens, having done what could be said to be ‘the hard part’, he failed because an alert claims handler spotted an issue with the claim itself, with an investigation then proving fraud.”

Crystal also emphasized the evolution from identity theft to the creation of synthetic identities and how the industry needs to be on the front foot with this challenge. “This can be accomplished by combining real data with fabricated information to create a wholly synthetic identity, followed by the purchasing of policy that will eventually be used to make a false claim, often after a period of time to build up a credible track record” he elaborates, “AI is unquestionably accelerating the growth in the creation of synthetic identities.”

Crystal concluded: “insurance fraud is a daily crime with serious financial impact. And this isn’t a victimless issue – not only does it strike at the heart of global markets, but it impacts genuine customers. It’s a real crime with real consequences and having a strategy to tackle it must be part of the cost of doing business nowadays.”

About Sedgwick

Sedgwick is the world’s leading risk and claims administration partner, helping clients thrive by navigating the unexpected. The company’s expertise, combined with the most advanced AI-enabled technology available, sets the standard for solutions in claims administration, loss adjusting, benefits administration and product recall. With over 33,000 colleagues and 10,000 clients across 80 countries, Sedgwick provides unmatchedperspective, caring that counts, and solutions for the rapidly changing and complex risk landscape. Sedgwick’s majority shareholder is The Carlyle Group; Stone Point Capital LLC, Altas Partners, CDPQ, Onex and other management investors are minority shareholders. For more, see sedgwick.com.