2024: The Future of Combatting Insurance Crime is Here

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As a member-driven organization, our members’ continued participation, collaboration and feedback are pivotal in our collective success in combatting insurance crime as an industry. With this as our driving force, and in close collaboration with other partners and stakeholders, I am optimistic that 2024 will see positive results in reducing insurance crime. Four trends will define how the industry will successfully combat crime this year: advancements in technology, awareness leading to action, growing areas of fraud trends, and the continued importance of collaboration.

Advancements in Technology

Insurance crime has never been more complex. New technologies are emerging every day which criminals are exploiting to commit insurance crime, estimated to cost Canadians upwards of $3-5 billion annually. Auto theft alone exceeded $1.2 billion in claims in 2022. This means that the approach by the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry, as well as law enforcement, government and manufacturers, needs to stay current.

In 2023, Équité Association launched the first of its kind for the industry – a national insurance crime detection platform, ÉQ Insights. We know fraud is hidden in insurance claims and can be hard to detect as each individual insurance company can only see the insurance fraud happening within their organization. ÉQ Insights is a tool that brings together industry-wide information in one place for effective fraud detection. With the power of this consortium model, each insurer no longer has to combat insurance crime alone. This technology will shift the entire P&C insurance industry from a reactive approach to a ‘predict and prevent’ model and, ultimately, make a meaningful reduction of these crimes across Canada.

A troubling technology trend our investigators are continuing to see is the ease with which car thieves are able to gain access to and start a vehicle without the key fob. The current theft prevention standards included in Canada's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations are outdated. No updates have been made since the standards were implemented in 2007, before keyless and remote start technologies were introduced in vehicles These outdated regulations require modernization to include the latest anti-theft technologies as well.

Awareness Leads to Action

Équité worked diligently to raise awareness about the scope and impact of auto theft and insurance crime on public safety, which included having our data, insight and experts included in over 800 media news stories in both English and French, across our two largest education campaigns, ‘Auto Theft is a National Crisis’ and ‘Top 10 Most Stolen Vehicles’.

Following the public interest in auto theft and public safety, a lot of moving pieces started to come together with the goal to detect, prevent and identify stolen vehicles. At the Public Safety and National Security Committee meeting held on October 23, MPs unanimously adopted the motion for a six-day study on auto theft. When putting the motion forward, data from Équité’s reports were referenced, including the percentage increase of auto thefts in Ontario (up 48% year over year) and Quebec (up 50% year over year) and premiums paid by insurers, as well as the collaborative work done by Équité with the SPVM, Sûreté du Québec, OPP, and RCMP.

The Ontario Government’s fall economic statement included a more dedicated effort to cracking down on the auto theft crisis in Ontario. This was in addition to the $51 million financial investment announced earlier this year for the creation a dedicated Auto Theft Team led by the Ontario Provincial Police, a new community safety grant, and a Major Auto Theft Prosecution Response team. Through our work with the OPP, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), Équité has been a strong proponent of the establishment of both the auto theft team and dedicated prosecutors. This was one of the core recommendations stemming from the March 2023 Auto Theft Summit, of which Équité was a sponsoring partner of the Summit.

Ontario police departments have started to receive grant information and have reached out to Équité to partner on auto-theft prevention programs in 2024. This will have an immediate and positive impact on public safety in local communities.

Growing Areas of Fraud Trends: Accident Benefits Fraud and Cargo Theft

While 2023 saw a lot of awareness raised on auto theft and auto fraud trends, in 2024 fraud investigation trends will include a focus on accident benefits fraud and cargo theft.

We refer to accident benefit fraud as the ‘gateway fraud’, because it tends to be the entry point for deeply complex and sophisticated organized fraud networks. These cases require specialized investigations and typically include other types of illegal activity such as identity theft. Using ÉQ Insights, coupled with the expertise of our investigators and under the guidance of our insurance industry members, I expect we’ll see a positive trend in the number of fraudulent accidents benefits claims detected and prevented.  

Équité maintains Canada's only commercial vehicle and cargo theft database, tracking the theft and recovery of stolen trucks, trailers, cargo, and heavy equipment. We work closely with law enforcement, member-insurers, the retail sector, and the transportation industry to combat cargo and heavy equipment theft. In 2024, our cargo experts moving the needle on preventing this type of fraud and theft.

Continuing Importance of Collaboration

Équité’s close relationships with our members, law enforcement, government, industry partners, and trust from journalists has led to amazing results in detecting, preventing and eliminating insurance crime on behalf of our members.

Through consultations and meetings with advisory groups and other stakeholders, Équité fosters connections and elevates the profiles of our members and their endeavors to combat insurance crime, placing it at the forefront of our mission. Recognizing the industry’s collective strength is collaboration, Canadian P&C insurers have embraced this collective approach, which is critical to the sustainable, long-term impact the industry can have to reduce insurance crime in Canada.

Our investigators work closely with law enforcement across the country, and that trust resulted in Project Fairfield, a joint multijurisdictional investigation that was initiated by an Équité auto theft investigator and Windsor Police. This joint investigation resulted in a combined 279 charges after recovering 138 stolen vehicles, and law enforcement seized $506,000 worth of drugs.

At the borders, our investigators work closely with Canadian Border Services Agency to identify stolen vehicles tagged for export. For example with support from York Regional Police, CP Rail Police, and CBSA, Équité helped to identify and recover more than 160 stolen vehicles that were destined for various locations in Africa and the Middle East.

Momentum in 2024

As the national authority on insurance crime, our experts will continue to provide advice, insights and information that contribute to protecting Canadians against its impacts. From fraudulent claims to theft, today’s criminals are using increasingly sophisticated technologies to commit fraud and insurance crimes. No one company can tackle this on its own. At Équité, we understand that collaboration is our greatest strength. We will continue to be a valued partner, working hand-in-hand with the insurance industry, law enforcement, government agencies, and other partners to deliver solutions to all types of insurance crime.