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The South African Insurance Crime Bureau (SAICB) was launched in Johannesburg on 30 October 2008. This was the culmination of a long process whereby the industry sought a way to address insurance fraud formally, collaboratively and comprehensively.
The implementation process started early in 2008 and was accelerated in July with the appointment of a Head of Operations, Hugo van Zyl, to commence with setting up the SAICB operations. The SAICB moved to its own premises in Midrand in October 2008 and has since been operating as an independent entity. The SAICB is a Section 21 not-for-gain association. The SAICB focuses on identifying organised crime patterns related to insurance fraud and related crimes, investigating these collaboratively with the companies and law enforcement authorities involved and assisting the prosecuting authorities with finalising prosecutions. The SAICB currently has more than 10 member companies.
The SAICB has started the process ofa building as big and varied a database of industry and other relevant information as possible, using the Information Sharing System (IDS) data as a basis. The SAICB has also put various partnerships in place with other relevant role players and has started with a number of large investigations involving several insurance companies, and many claims. The Memex system, which forms the basis of the SAICB operation, has proven invaluable and will surely assist in giving the SAICB members a return on investment.
The SAICB has taken over many functions in the crime-fighting arena that used to be SAIA’s responsibility, including the Fraud Committee as well as the Insurance Fraudline. The SAIA Fraud Committee was transferred to the SAICB, and the Insurance Fraudline contract ended with effect from the end of December 2008. The SAICB signed a new contract with Tip Offs Anonymous, the company that manages the Insurance Fraudline, and took over as the owner of Insurance Fraudline from 1 January 2009.