Anti-Fraud
CDL launches syndicated solution to tackle quote manipulation

20th August 2018

CDL has launched a revolutionary new anti-fraud syndicate, which is seeing a number of major insurance brands join forces to combat the growing challenge of quote manipulation.

The syndicate allows insurance retailers to identify potentially suspicious patterns of consumer behaviour using Hummingbird, CDL's proven, ultra fast data intelligence solution, which is able to search and analyse millions of records at sub-second speed.

A number of CDL's customers are already signed up to the new syndicate, including Brightside and Be Wiser.

Brightside's Mark Cliff said: "It's been recognised for some time that consumers are increasingly manipulating their details when obtaining quotes online. Whilst this isn't always fraudulent, it remains a huge problem for the industry. Gaining detailed insight into the type and extent of such changes is absolutely vital when it comes to tackling application fraud.

"Aside from having different business models and objectives, syndicate members have a common goal in eradicating fraud. Coming together to achieve that has to be a good thing.

"Brightside already has a large programme of point-of-quote enrichment to combat fraud. By extending its scope to include quote manipulation, Hummingbird Syndicate will complement and build on the success of this approach."

As well as being used to tackle fraud, these insights can be used to personalise customer experiences, recognise and reward customer loyalty and cross-reference information provided by customers to better inform pricing decisions.

Commenting on Be Wiser's participation in the new syndicate, company chairman Mark Bower-Dyke, said: "Tackling fraud is just one of the benefits of Hummingbird. It's also about gaining deeper insight into what consumers are really looking for by creating a far more accurate view of the risk. We like to talk to our customers wherever possible. The point is to make sure they buy the right policy to meet their needs, at the right price.

"What CDL has created with Hummingbird is fantastic. Being part of a syndicate with other customers, and sharing insights, makes it even more powerful. It's a brilliant idea."

Syndicate members can specify actions to be taken in the event that Hummingbird detects potentially suspicious behaviour, including redirecting customers to a contact centre, flagging quotes for post-sale validation, adjusting the premium or declining to quote altogether.

Launched two years ago, Hummingbird has delivered results for a number of CDL customers, including providing deeper customer insights, a reduction in post-sale cancellation of policies and a dramatic decline in other cost factors, such as bad debt.

It is cloud-hosted using Amazon Web Services, making it an extremely resilient and scalable solution, able to deal with the huge quote volumes generated in the high-volume sector.

CDL's partnerships director, Nick Jackson, adds: "Hummingbird has proved highly successful for our customers in a range of different applications since its launch.

"A significant proportion of consumers believe that manipulating their details is an acceptable way to reduce premiums, and speaking with our customers in recent months, it was clear this was an issue they needed us to help them tackle. It's been great to see syndicate members come together to share insight and overcome what is a growing problem for the industry and also for consumers, who risk invalidating policies by providing false information."