Transport operator FirstGroup has won an industry award for its work to protect customers and the wider public as part of the fight against insurance fraud.
The company’s in-house claims team received the ‘Improving Public Knowledge’ prize at the 2018 Insurance Fraud Awards, held in London.
FirstGroup was commended for its counter-fraud awareness program, aimed at educating bus drivers and other colleagues about the risk of ‘cash-for-crash’ scams on Britain’s roads.
The Insurance Fraud Awards celebrate the work of the insurance sector, particularly in the fight against fraud.
Notable for their regular contributions to the BBC One insurance counter-fraud series Claimed and Shamed, the FirstGroup team protects the interests of customers by taking action against those who seek to defraud the public transport industry, such as organised criminal gangs.
FirstGroup’s Fraud Prevention Officer, Julie Randle, and Head of Litigation, Christine Branton, collected the award on behalf of the team.
Julie Randle, fraud prevention officer, said: “Having been targeted by organised criminal gangs in recent years, we knew that the industry needed to step up, and push back, at those who seek to defraud public transport.
“We are a small team, without the benefit or resource of a large insurer, and so winning this award is testament to our team’s hard work and dedication to protect our customers and the wider public, particularly the elderly and vulnerable who heavily rely on public transport.”
Julie and the team can be seen on the current series of BBC One’s Claimed and Shamed, screening daily on BBC One and then available on BBC iPlayer
