The City of London Police has appointed a new head of its Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED). Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Oliver Little takes on the role of leading the IFED team from DCI Angie Rogers; looking to build on the unit’s success as it marks its fourth anniversary.
A specialist police unit, IFED is dedicated to tackling insurance fraud across England and Wales. Funded by members of the Association of British Insurers and Lloyd’s of London, and hosted by the City of London Police, the team acts with operational independence while working closely with the insurance industry to target those involved in all aspects of insurance fraud.
Since its inception in January 2012, IFED has investigated tens of millions of pounds worth of bogus insurance claims, has dealt with more than 1,400 suspects and has seized or confiscated more than £1.3m from fraudsters. As a result of IFED investigations more than 200 people have been convicted at court and over 100 years’ jail sentences have been handed down by the courts to insurance fraudsters.
Over the past year, IFED has also been working to design and introduce a new ‘hub’ which was launched this month and will enable the team to better assess and manage case referrals that come in from insurers. The hub will then be able to ensure that the cases with the best investigative opportunities and prospect of conviction are quickly identified and assigned to IFED investigators and detectives to investigate.
Appointed this week as the Head of IFED, DCI Little brings with him 16 years of experience as a police officer, most recently as the Detective Inspector for IFED. He began his career in Surrey before moving to the City of London Police in 2003, where he has worked in a variety of specialist detective posts. In 2009 he joined the City of London Police’s Economic Crime Directorate, working on complex case investigations before moving to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and then to IFED in 2014.
DCI Oliver Little said: “The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department has come a long way since it was first set up in 2012, and by working in close partnership with the industry, the life of an insurance fraudster in 2016 is undoubtedly much harder than it was four years ago.
“I’m taking over from Angie, who has done a brilliant job over the past year in setting up our new hub, which will help us to identify and focus on the cases that have the best prospect of convictions.
“I’m lucky to be leading such a fantastic group of officers and staff here and we have been getting some excellent results; those we’re identifying as involved in the most serious insurance frauds are increasingly spending time behind bars.
“Insurance fraud is a serious crime, costs insurers, the public and the UK economy millions of pounds each year and costs every policy holder around £50 on their annual insurance bill. I’m keen to build on the success IFED has seen thus far and show that there are serious consequences for those who think insurance fraud is an easy way to make cash.”
Mark Allen, Fraud and Financial Crime Manager at the Association of British Insurers said: “The insurance sector’s investment in tackling fraud is paying off for customers, with millions of pounds worth of potential losses either prevented or taken back from criminals. Tackling this crime helps to remove costs from the system which might otherwise increase prices for the vast majority of honest consumers. Anyone tempted to commit insurance fraud should be left in no doubt that they stand a high risk of being caught and face a very real possibility of serving a custodial sentence."