Closing the Fraud Loophole: How Smarter Data Validation Protects Insurers from Repeat Offenders

At Inaza, we’re driven by the expertise and ingenuity of a dedicated team of innovators, led by our Head of Technology, Conor McDonald. Working closely with insurers and claims teams every day, Conor and his team have encountered just about every fraud trick in the book. This hands-on experience, combined with a passion for problem-solving, has led to practical, tech-driven solutions that tackle fraud and streamline operations. 

In this blog, Conor shares his insights on a major pain point across the industry: how repeat policy applicants—those previously denied, canceled, or flagged—are slipping back through the cracks with slightly altered details. He explains why traditional underwriting systems are missing the mark and how smarter data validation and cross-referencing can stop these high-risk individuals in their tracks.

The Problem: Fraudsters Know How to Play the System

Imagine this scenario. You’ve just denied a policy to someone after uncovering multiple red flags—fraudulent documents, an existing claims history on an expired policy, or evidence of risky behavior. You cross the applicant off your list and move on, satisfied that you’ve protected your business.

But here’s what often happens next: That same individual, knowing where the system fell short, tweaks their details just enough to look like a “new” applicant. They might use a new email address, change their phone number, or adjust their home address slightly—for example, swapping 'Unit 3, 101 Park Avenue' for '101 Park Ave, Apt 3.' To the human eye—and even many underwriting systems—these minor adjustments are enough to slip through unnoticed.

In many cases, they need not even make any changes at all. With no system in place to cross-check individual details like vehicle registration numbers, driver license number or in some cases even names, insurers might unknowingly issue a policy to the same fraudulent applicant. The result? They’re granted coverage again, perhaps even offered discounts meant for legitimate new customers, and before long, they’re filing claims all over again.

This isn’t some rare, hypothetical situation—it’s a widespread problem across the industry. Fraudsters and repeat offenders know how to exploit the gaps in traditional underwriting systems. And those gaps exist because most systems still process applications in isolation. They’re unable to cross reference files within the same application, let alone across every piece of PII (personally identifiable information) submitted by an individual. There’s no historical context, no ability to compare the current applicant against a database of past applications.

The result? Insurers, despite their best efforts, are left vulnerable. They give policies to individuals who have already proven themselves high-risk, whether through fraud, multiple claims, or cancellations. And those risks are compounded every time someone slips through—negativily impacting your loss ratio, creating unnecessary exposure, and wasting time and resources that could be spent on genuine policyholders.

Inaza’s Solution: Smarter Data Validation That Sees the Full Picture

At Inaza, we’ve built a solution that closes this gap completely. It starts with a simple principle: every single piece of policyholder data matters. We don’t just look at names, phone numbers, or addresses in isolation—we analyze them, clean them, and then cross-check them against a centralized data warehouse.

Now, I know the term data warehouse might sound like something out of an IT manual, but really, it’s a powerful and practical tool. Think of it as a secure, always-on memory bank for every policy and applicant your business has ever dealt with. Instead of tossing applicant data aside after a policy is denied or canceled, Inaza stores it—securely, of course—and standardizes it to make sure nothing gets overlooked.

Let’s take that address example again. A fraudster who previously listed their home as “123B Elm Street, Apartment 4” reapplies and changes it to “Unit 4, 123B Elm St.” Most systems would see two completely different addresses. Inaza doesn’t. We standardize and clean the data, recognizing that those two addresses are actually the same location. That’s a small but crucial detail—and exactly the kind of thing fraudsters count on traditional systems to miss.

But it’s not just addresses. We’re talking about every significant detail:

• Driver’s license numbers
• Vehicle registration and VINs
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Even images of the vehicle itself

We don’t just store this information. We compare it, cross-reference it, and analyze it against your entire history of past policies and claims. So when a new application comes in, Inaza doesn’t just ask, “Does this look fine on its own?” It asks, “Have we seen any of this before? Do any of these details connect to someone we’ve denied, canceled, or flagged?”

If the answer is yes, you’ll know.

The Impact: No More Repeat Fraud, No More Blind Spots

The result is simple but powerful: insurers can stop repeat fraud before it happens. That fraudster trying to sneak back in with a new email address or slightly tweaked details? Flagged immediately. That high-risk individual whose policy was canceled last year because of multiple claims? Caught before they can re-enter your system.

And the impact goes beyond just stopping fraud. With Inaza’s data warehouse and smart validation:

• You protect your bottom line by preventing losses from fraudulent claims and premium leakage.
• You save time and resources, because your team no longer needs to manually cross-check applications or chase down repeat offenders.
• You underwrite smarter, making decisions based on the full context of an applicant’s history—not just the data in front of you.

Most importantly, you get back control. You’re no longer blind to what’s already happened within your business. You’re seeing every applicant in context, with the full picture of their behavior and risk profile laid out in front of you.

Why This Matters—and What Comes Next

For insurers, this is about more than stopping fraud. It’s about leveling the playing field. Fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated, using small, subtle tricks to game the system. Traditional underwriting tools simply aren’t designed to keep up.

Inaza changes that. By bringing every piece of applicant data into one centralized, standardized warehouse, we’re giving insurers the ability to detect patterns and trends they couldn’t see before. And this is just the beginning. Once the data is there—clean, structured, and available—the opportunities are endless.

You could identify emerging fraud trends. Predict risky behaviors. Make better, faster decisions across underwriting and claims.

The important thing is that you’re no longer reacting to fraud after it happens. You’re preventing it from happening.

Final Thoughts

Fraudsters might think they’ve cracked the system, but they’re in for a surprise. With Inaza’s smarter data validation and centralized data warehouse, insurers can finally close the gaps that let repeat offenders slip through. It’s about seeing the full picture, making better decisions, and protecting your business from risks you shouldn’t have to take.

The days of blind spots and missed connections are over.

Ready to take control and stop repeat fraud? Let’s talk.