Greater cooperation between police and insurers to combat growing fraud

In a bid to deal with widespread insurance fraud, experts from the Polish In surance Chamber (PIU) are to offer policemen special training, and insurers will be granted access to police data bases. Insurance scams are a rapidly-g rowing business in Poland. Unofficial police estimates suggest that up to 30 % of all car thefts reported in Warsaw and its suburbs are in fact attempts to defraud insurance companies. However, current legislation does not make t he battle against insurance fraud easy. Slawomir Stypulkowski of the PIU poi nted out that the necessary changes, including legalizing the creation of a data base of insurance cheats, were included in a draft bill passed by the l ast Sejm, but vetoed by the President. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 9) M.K.