Insurance crime as a dysfunction of the insurance market − in the light of the results of an expert interview

Purpose:The main objective of the article is to analyse the phenomenon of insurance crime as a dysfunction of the insurance market in the light of surveys conducted among experts.In addition, the article formulates additional auxiliary objectives: 1.To determine the directions of actions in counteracting insurance crime; 2. To analyse the attitudes of the surveyed respondents towards the phenomenon of insurance crime.Design/methodology/approach: A free-text interview (also known as an in-depth ethnographic interview) was used as the main research method used to realise the objectives set.In addition, a critical analysis of the source literature and a comparative analysis were carried out to realise the set objectives.Between February and March 2024, five individual expert interviews were conducted with employees of insurance companies involved in the prevention of insurance crime.Findings: In presenting the most important results, it should be pointed out that there is a conviction among experts that the most important instruments for crime prevention are cooperation between insurance companies and the involvement of insurance market institutions.Experts in the fight against insurance crime mainly pointed out the difficulties in data exchange related, among other things, to data protection regulations or budget constraints, as well as the need for insurance crime education at the level of the police and prosecutor's office. Research limitations/implications:In the course of the research, it was only possible to reach a few experts involved in the prevention of insurance crime.This was related to the difficulty in reaching people who would agree to be interviewed as experts.Therefore, it should be noted that the results obtained represent only the subjective views of those who were interviewed as experts.Originality/value: The prepared article fills a research gap on insurance crime prevention.While conducting a literature review, the authors did not find a publication on research among experts dealing with insurance crime prevention.The results obtained may become the basis for further research attempts among a wider range of experts dealing with the issue under study.