...Big Data Increasingly Important: Fitch Ratings believes big data will be increasingly important to insurers' profitability, competitiveness and ¡ in the long term ¡ credit ratings. Fitch is not alone: 71% of insurers in a BearingPoint survey said big data was a "maximum priority" by 2018, particularly for customer service, pricing and fraud detection. With bond yields low and competition high, management of profitability is key for insurers. Early adopters of big data to reduce fraud, price more accurately and control distribution may gain a vital competitive edge. Fraud Reduction: Tackling fraud is currently one of the main uses of big data by insurers. False or exaggerated motor injury claims, eg whiplash, account for as much as half of fraud in some insurance markets. Big data analytics enables the rapid identification of claims characteristics that flag potential fraud, which would previously have been much harder to uncover. Fraud reduction cuts associated claims and investigation...
