Transforming claims assessment: Hannover Re's outstanding collaboration with Fortiro awarded at the Protection Review in London

In the rapidly evolving landscape of increased digital sophistication, the strategic collaboration between Hannover Re and Fortiro has not only transformed claims assessment but also earned the prestigious "Global Development" award from Protection Review 2023. Protection Review, a leading authority on the UK’s health and protection insurance industry, recognises global advancements made in life and health insurance. This new award category celebrated the collaborative efforts driven by the team at Hannover Life Re of Australasia Ltd (HLRA), acknowledging the transformative impact of Fortiro’s technology on claims strategies and fraud mitigation. Tim Smith, Head of Protection at the Hannover Re UK Life branch represented the team at the Protection Review awards ceremony held at the Landmark Hotel in London on Wednesday 6 December 2023.

Traditional claims assessment processes often grapple with complexity and time constraints, making it challenging to detect fraudulent documents. Fortiro's innovative technology "Protect" addresses this issue head-on by automating the verification of financial documents, streamlining the claims assessment process, and helping to significantly reduce the risk of fraud.

In October 2022, HLRA conducted a proof of concept (POC) using Fortiro's technology on 84 historical claims documents. These documents were categorised into three groups: those with previously detected fraud, suspected but unproven fraud, and genuine claims. The results were remarkable – within just 30 seconds, Fortiro's technology identified suspicious flags in 13 documents, leading to the confirmation of three instances of fraud and potential alterations for three more claims. This translates to a potential annual saving of AUD 450,000, showcasing the efficiency and effectiveness of Fortiro's fraud detection technology.

Driven by the success of the POC, HLR Aus has implemented Fortiro's advanced fraud detection technology across their life insurance portfolio and has also demonstrated sufficient scale and applicability for cedant portfolios.

Sean Quagliani, CEO Fortiro reflected "Fortiro exists to prevent document fraud and friction, so we are excited to partner with Hannover Re. Insurance fraud is a global challenge, and with the proliferation of digital tools, fake documentation is easy to create and very difficult for assessors to recognise. The POC with HLRA has shown incredible potential for HLRA to protect the business, cedants and society from fraudsters, and to further streamline and digitise the underwriting and claims assessment processes.”

The potential and opportunities with Fortiro continue to evolve, demonstrating success and efficiencies for other markets. HLRA envisions extending the use of fraud detection technology across the entire insurance value chain. This includes reviewing financial documents during the underwriting stage, increasing straight-through-processing rates, reducing customer touchpoints, and exploring further development to detect fraud in medical reports, death certificates, and identification documentation.

Hannover Re's successful integration of Fortiro's cutting-edge fraud detection technology has helped to safeguard their business from fraudsters whilst placing them at the forefront amid the evolving landscape of digital sophistication. The recognition from Protection Review underscores the positive impact of Fortiro's document authentication technology, "Protect," in enhancing fraud detection within the life insurance industry.

Amy Sworden, Head of Claims Operations, HLRA, reflected on this achievement, stating “Hannover Re are proud to be partnering with Fortiro to bring this technology to the life insurance industry, and to be raising awareness of the ever-increasing risk of fraud.”