The National Police Service has strengthened the capacity of a special unit created to investigate insurance fraud on the rise in the country.
The Insurance Crimes Investigations Unit (IFIU) established in 2011 is expected to probe malpractices and recommend prosecution to streamline operations in the multi billion industry.
Deputy Inspector General of police Joel Kitili said the rapid growth of insurance companies especially in the motor industry has lead to cut throat competition with some offering questionable deals.
This, he said posed a danger to the public, adding that the special unit shall enhance surveillance to ensure that Kenyans are protected from unscrupulous dealers.
In a speech read by Nyanza Regional Police Commander Willy Lugusa during the closure of a traffic police officers training on insurance at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu over the weekend, Kitili said the training was important to equip the officers with the requisite skills to weed out bogus insurance companies and brokers out to fleece unsuspecting Kenyans.
Kitili said the National Police Service was determined to enforce law and order at all times asking the officers to exercise their duties with integrity and professionalism in both private and public life.
Insurance Regulatory Authority Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Kiptum, in his speech read by IRA Chief Finance Manager Edward Odundo said the high rates of motor vehicle accidents involving public service vehicles has led to an increase of fraud.
The situation, he said has been compounded by the entrance of motorbikes into the public service vehicles (PSV) business.
He attributed the increase on fraud to high level of indiscipline amongst drivers, conductors, traffic police department and insurance companies.
Kiptum urged traffic police officers to discharge their duties with diligence and efficiency in order to restore sanity in the sector.“In order to settle claims, insurance companies rely on reports filled by police officers in the event of a motor accident or theft therefore this training is the first step we propose to work with the officers to correct the situation,” he said.
The training sponsored by IRA and facilitated by the College of Insurance brought together 38 Traffic Police Officers from Western and Nyanza regions.
