Tackling insurance fraud: Lessons and best-practices from the Nordics for Switzerland’s insurance industry

^{August 2025 - Claudio Stadelmann, Jukka Lahti, Michelle Lebrecht}

Insurance fraud is a persistent and costly challenge for the Swiss insurance industry. With estimated losses of up to CHF 8 billion annually, fraud undermines profitability, inflates premiums, and erodes trust in the market. As fraudsters become more sophisticated, often using AI-generated documents, synthetic identities, and automated fraud bots, insurers must evolve their prevention strategies accordingly. In our latest white paper, we explore how Nordic countries, comprising Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, have built some of the world’s most advanced fraud prevention ecosystems. Their success offers a blueprint for Swiss insurers and reinsurers to strengthen their defenses and future-proof their operations.

The Nordic insurance market: Fraud trends, best practices, and recent developmentsents

Nordic insurers have set the global benchmark in combating insurance fraud, demonstrating how structured collaboration, advanced analytics, and real-time information exchange can significantly improve fraud detection and prevention. Their approach is built on three pillars:

1. Industry-wide collaboration and data sharing

• Sweden’s GSR platform enables real-time claims data exchange across insurers, helping detect patterns and prevent organized fraud.
• Finland and Iceland operate shared claims databases to prevent duplicate claims and support joint investigations with law enforcement.
• Norway’s insurers collaborate on shared AI training datasets to improve fraud detection accuracy.

2. Secure digital identity and authentication

• Countries like Denmark and Finland mandate the use of e-ID systems (e.g., MitID) for online claims, reducing identity fraud and ensuring secure transactions.
• These systems are integrated into national digital infrastructures, enabling seamless fraud detection at the point of claim submission.

3. Advanced analytics and AI integration

• Nordic insurers use AI-powered tools to detect anomalies, flag suspicious claims, and reduce false positives.
• Sweden’s Folksam saw a 15–20% increase in flagged suspicious claims after implementing AI-based fraud detection.
• Norway’s Gjensidige uses AI to assign real-time risk scores to claims, enabling faster triage and investigation.

What Switzerland can learn from the Nordics and their fraud prevention strategies

Swiss insurers currently rely predominantly on internal AI-driven solutions or partnerships with global technology providers for fraud detection, such as Zurich Insurance’s internal AI tool ZCAM and the HIS (Hinweis- und Informationssystem) platform. However, significant opportunities exist for Switzerland to enhance its fraud-prevention capabilities by adopting proven Nordic practices. Swiss insurers would benefit from implementing comprehensive data-sharing initiatives, strengthening crossborder and cross-company collaboration, and utilizing market-ready AI analytics. Additionally, reinforcing strategic ties with law enforcement and proactively sharing intelligence could substantially bolster Switzerland’s defenses against insurance fraud, thus safeguarding industry integrity and profitability in the long run.

Considerations for reinsurers

In fraud prevention, reinsurers serve as the second line of defense and should clearly prioritize both their own and their cedants’ fraud prevention efforts. Ensuring that fraud does not become unchecked “leakage” directly supports reinsurers’ profit and loss goals. Reinsurers should prioritize thorough evaluations of cedants’ fraud prevention capabilities during underwriting, actively participate in significant claims investigations, and remain vigilant regarding legal developments across their operational markets. Such proactive measures help protect their financial stability and reduce potential losses.

Download the paper to learn more or get in touch with us!