A study of fraudulent activity within the Maltese insurance sector during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude of the issue of insurance fraud in Malta during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Fraud is an increasing concern in many industries, particularly in the insurance business. Insurance fraud is commonly seen as a victimless crime because no one is hurt. However, this is not the case because insurance fraud impacts policyholders' premiums owing to the expenditures and expenses involved. A variety of measures and techniques can be employed to prevent fraudulent behaviour. The author's aim with this research is to discover the approaches utilised by insurance sector participants to detect fraud during the pandemic. Furthermore, the author wishes to ascertain the actions taken by the same players to deter and combat such behaviour within the sector. Furthermore, the pandemic has led many people to adopt desperate measures to fulfil their bills and the cost of living. Insurance fraud may be done in a variety of ways, including false claims, staged incidents, and non-disclosure. The author relied on primary data throughout this study. Semi-structured interviews with professionals in the Maltese insurance business provided the primary data. The interviews were designed to elicit participants' perspectives and raise awareness about insurance fraud during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The author's aim for this study was to discover and understand whether the insurance sector had been affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the methods implemented to prevent and detect fraudulent behaviour in the insurance business during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The author finds that the insurance industry had been affected and the approaches now being employed to reduce insurance fraud are critical, especially during the pandemic. However, it became clear throughout the course of this research that more information should be provided to the public on the repercussions of fraud to influence the public's opinion of this issue, and that insurance firms should monitor and keep data regarding fraudulent activity during the pandemic