UK Insurers Gain New Shield Against Fraud and Exclusion

LONDON, UK – April 16, 2026 – A new strategic partnership is set to arm UK insurers with a powerful dual-purpose weapon, targeting the twin pressures of rampant digital fraud and stringent regulatory demands for fairer customer access. Identity verification leader Mitek and risk intelligence specialist Synectics Solutions have joined forces, integrating their technologies to help insurers identify sophisticated fraud at the earliest stage while safely opening doors for legitimate customers who might otherwise be excluded.

The collaboration comes at a critical juncture for the UK insurance industry, which is navigating a complex landscape defined by economic uncertainty, rapid digitalization, and evolving criminal tactics.

A Tightrope Walk: Battling Fraud While Ensuring Fairness

UK insurers are currently performing a precarious balancing act. On one side, they face an onslaught of fraud that is growing in both volume and sophistication. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) reports that detected fraudulent claims reached £1.16 billion in 2024, a 2% rise from the previous year. However, the true cost is estimated to be over £3 billion annually when undetected cases are included, a burden that ultimately adds around £50 to every honest customer's policy premium.

The nature of this fraud is also transforming. While exaggerated claims remain common, the real battlefront has moved online. Insurers prevented nearly 685,000 fraudulent applications in 2024, a 7.4% increase, highlighting a strategic shift by criminals to exploit the digital onboarding process. The most alarming trends are the rise of synthetic identity fraud—where criminals combine real and fake data to create entirely new, fictitious personas—and the use of artificial intelligence. A recent industry survey found that 72% of insurers now rank synthetic ID fraud as one of their top three detection challenges.

On the other side of this tightrope is the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty. Fully implemented for all products as of July 2024, this regulation mandates a higher standard of care, requiring firms to proactively deliver "good outcomes" for retail customers. This includes ensuring products offer fair value, communications are clear, and, crucially, that firms provide fair access to services, particularly for vulnerable customers or those with limited financial footprints, often called 'thin-file' individuals. Insurers can no longer afford to use broad-stroke risk models that might unfairly penalize legitimate applicants who lack a traditional credit history.

The AI vs. AI Arms Race

The new partnership between Mitek and Synectics is a direct response to this dual challenge, effectively creating an "AI vs. AI" scenario where advanced technology is deployed to fight AI-enabled crime. The collaboration combines Mitek's expertise in identity verification and anti-spoofing with Synectics' powerful fraud orchestration platform, which is underpinned by the National SIRA database—the UK's largest cross-sector consortium for risk intelligence.

The integration creates a multi-layered defense that begins at the very first point of contact with a potential customer. Mitek’s technology uses advanced algorithms and biometric analysis to verify that an identity document is authentic and that the person presenting it is its legitimate owner. This creates a powerful front-line defense against the use of stolen credentials, forged documents, and the increasingly convincing fakes generated by AI.

Once an identity is verified by Mitek, the data flows into Synectics' platform. Here, the applicant's details are cross-referenced against the vast repository of shared data in National SIRA. This consortium approach is critical, as fraud is rarely confined to a single institution or even a single industry. By pooling anonymized intelligence from banking, insurance, and other sectors, the system can uncover hidden links and suspicious patterns that would be invisible to any single insurer.

"Cross-institution intelligence and data sharing are essential in the fight against fraud," said Chris Lewis, Director Strategic Solutions and Analytics at Synectics Solutions, in the original announcement. "Only by pooling information can we uncover the hidden links and patterns that no single institution can detect alone."

This combination of verifying a person's identity with understanding their associated risk across a wider network allows insurers to act with greater speed and confidence, flagging high-risk applications for further review while fast-tracking genuine customers.

Unlocking Insurance for the Underserved

Perhaps one of the most significant societal benefits of this technological synergy is its potential to promote financial inclusion. For years, 'thin-file' customers—including young people, recent immigrants, and those who operate outside traditional credit systems—have struggled to access essential financial products like insurance. Lacking the extensive data trails that conventional underwriting models rely on, they are often deemed too risky or are quoted prohibitively high premiums.

The FCA's Consumer Duty explicitly pushes against this kind of unintentional exclusion. The Mitek-Synectics solution directly addresses this by providing a more robust and nuanced way to establish trust. By confirming an applicant's identity with a high degree of certainty, Mitek's technology gives insurers the confidence to onboard individuals who might otherwise be rejected by legacy systems. The subsequent check against the SIRA network further refines the risk assessment without solely relying on a credit score.

This allows insurers to confidently approve more legitimate customers, fulfilling their regulatory obligations and tapping into a previously underserved market segment. It represents a shift from a system that asks "Does this person have a long credit history?" to one that asks "Is this person who they say they are, and is there any known risk associated with them?"

"Fraud is moving faster than traditional controls can respond. Insurers shouldn’t have to choose between strong fraud controls and fair customer outcomes,” stated Tim Barber, Vice President, EMEA Sales at Mitek. "Together with Synectics, we’re helping UK insurers strengthen identity certainty so they can grow responsibly without increasing fraud."

By integrating these advanced checks seamlessly into the digital application process, the partnership aims to enhance security without creating friction for the vast majority of honest applicants, paving the way for a more secure, efficient, and inclusive insurance landscape. The combined solution promises not only to protect insurers' bottom lines but also to build a more resilient and equitable system for all consumers.