The Insurance Council of Australia has set up a unit to combat fraud, which totalled more than $500 million in the industry last year.

Andrew Gill, most recently a forensic director at McGrathNicol and a former detective with the NSW police fraud and cybercrime squad, will lead the counter-fraud and scams function as CEO.

ICA says the unit will focus on detecting organised fraud networks and emerging fraud-related trends or criminal scams.

The function will collaborate with ICA members to collect intelligence, in addition to working with governments and agencies.

Last year ICA members detected $560 million worth of opportunistic insurance fraud in motor and property alone, with undetected fraud estimated to cost the industry about $400 million a year. 

“These undetected cases drive up insurance premiums and are resulting in significant harm to customers and the economy,” ICA said today.

CEO Andrew Hall says Mr Gill, who served for 24 years with the NSW police, “will be a great asset in guiding” the counter-fraud function.

“[He] will lead the new function as it becomes a standalone entity, external to ICA, working with insurers to reduce the cost of fraud and scams to insurance customers and the community.”

Mr Gill says organised fraud’s cost is reflected in everybody’s insurance premiums.

“By reducing fraud, we can have an impact on the cost of a premium and ensure that insurance customers are not paying for the unlawful and unfair acts of organised crime,” he said.