'Expect a major shift in fraud post-reforms,' former IFB boss warns

Jason Potter, the new head of fraud operations at BLM has warned that there is going to be a “significant shift in the types of fraud” we see once the whiplash reforms come into place.

Potter recently moved over to the law firm, after spending over three years at the Insurance Fraud Bureau as head of investigations.

He warns that fraudsters aren’t going to let the reforms deter them too much from carrying out fraudulent activity.

“If they were a fraudster before the reforms, they are going to be a fraudster after them as well,” he told Insurance Times.

Moving from IFB to BLM

Having been in the commercial space of fraud (he was underwriting frad manager at NFU Mutual and fraud manager at Swinton) before moving to the IFB, Potter declared his desire to return, and felt the timing was right to leave because of the imminent whiplash reforms.

“I had a very successful few years at the IFB. What you have to consider is the IFB’s remit. The IFB deals with organised insurance fraud, organised networks and gangs.

“BLM’s remit is a lot wider. While it will focus on organised fraud, it will also focus on opportunistic fraud as well. So there is an opportunity to influence a wider sector.”

Potter cited the location benefit (he lives in Birmingham, where he is now based for BLM), the ambition described by partner and fraud manager Sarah Hill, and the direction the company is looking to go in terms of innovation.

“I have known Sarah for a number of years. And when discussing with her where she wants BLM to go in terms of the reforms and where to go in terms of what is best for our clients. That was a major factor for me.

“It pushes the envelope, and, from a career perspective, it allows further development into the law firm environment and pushing the boundaries in what can be achieved.”

Whiplash reforms

With the reforms just over one year away, Potter says fraudsters are gearing up for the changes and are already adopting new techniques.

“There is going to be a major shift in the fraud we will see, in terms of the facilitators,” he said.

“I think you are going to see, maybe a demise in the traditional, organised crash for cash, whiplash type injury. And maybe moving over to layering activity which we are already seeing.”

“The risk around organised crash for cash schemes has dropped down to a tier two, but opportunistic fraud is still a tier one.

“The opportunistic stuff is still very much a problem, and you don’t see where it is going to come from.”

The whiplash reforms comes into effect in April 2020.