Q&A: Kaye Sydenham, Verisk

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started in the insurance industry?

On a personal level, I’m a mother of three lovely children, so I’m constantly running around to football, gymnastics and other activities. 

My job and career are very important to me. I started out in insurance as an electronic filing admin at AGF Insurance and I never escaped the industry once I got into it. 

When AGF was acquired by Allianz, I was offered redundancy but decided to stay.

I was drawn to claims specifically because I enjoy helping people in their moments of need. I’ve always been interested in the fraud side of things as well. 

I have a strong sense of right and wrong and, when handling claims, I often had a gut feeling when something wasn't quite right.

I have a strong sense of right and wrong and, when handling claims, I often had a gut feeling when something wasn't quite right. I would investigate as much as I could to get to the bottom of it.

An opportunity arose for me to work in India for Allianz, where I set up a recovery team. This experience really broadened my perspective, and it was great to work in such a different environment, even if I did end up I contracting amoebic dysentery and being hospitalised for two weeks.

What brought you to your current role with Verisk?

After returning from India, I wanted a change and joined Motor Insurers' Bureau handling complaints. I worked closely with the CEO, writing complaint letters and addressing issues.

Later, a role with the Insurance Fraud Bureau came up, and I became its first customer relationship manager in 2012. I loved the job, travelling and learning about industry needs and trends.

Eventually, I returned to MIB and managed various projects before ending up at Verisk. I was initially interviewed for a different role but ended up as the product owner for anti-fraud, which was perfect given my background and interests.

I've been with Verisk since September 2021, bridging the gap between product development and industry needs.

What are you currently working on at Verisk?

We manage four key anti-fraud products, including ANPR and an intelligence platform. Our most exciting project right now is the digital media forensic tool, which we developed in-house.

It tackles typical fraud schemes by analysing images and documents for manipulation. We have models that detect pixel manipulation, PDF alterations and metadata inconsistencies.

We've been running proofs of concept and have already signed up our first few customers. 

Can you tell us about which insurers you’re working with?

While we can't name specific clients, we work with a wide range of insurers across different lines, including health, life and travel.

Do you think fraud is increasing?

Yes, especially opportunistic fraud due to the cost-of-living crisis. While motor fraud has decreased due to better car technology and reduced driving post-pandemic, fraudsters are shifting to other areas, such as property and travel.

Opportunistic fraud is harder to detect as it often lacks a clear data footprint, but we are developing tools and models to address this.

Digital media fraud manipulated images are a challenge for the industry.

We're finding about one in 10 images that go through our system in our POCs are flagged up for some sort of fraud. Some of them are flagging for multiple things. Maybe it's been opened in Photoshop, but we're also detecting pixel manipulation at the same time.

How should the industry respond to these challenges?

The industry faces challenges in extracting and validating digital images for fraud detection. Many insurers have old technology that makes it difficult to analyse images and metadata.

This is something we need to address collectively; insurers need to be talking to one another and sharing data regarding fraud.

Do you agree with Scott Clayton’s call for a travel insurance claims fraud database?

Absolutely. Travel is a rife area for opportunistic fraud.

The thing is the fraudulent travel claims that come through tend to have a bit of truth to them. If a claimant loses their watch, it creates an opportunity to claim for more than it was worth or to claim for additional items.

Without a database, they could pull off that same claim multiple times and there’d be no way to know.

The CUE database includes motor and home, so it begs the question of why travel isn’t included. 

Kaye Sydenham is product manager - anti-fraud at Verisk