Forensic investigations services
Insurers face the risk of legal claims, financial loss and regulatory investigations. Our forensic accounting and investigation services is a recognised market leader advising national and international insurers and their legal advisors. The team is comprised of dedicated specialists spanning the full spectrum of forensic accounting and investigation services.
Current market challenges
There are many factors that may influence the nature and extent of risk of legal claims, financial loss, and regulatory investigations. Current factors include:
- The economic environment. There has been a number of significant influences including, but not limited to, Brexit and the Covid Pandemic.
- Global supply changes issues. This will particularly influence claims made under supply chain insurance policies.
- The adverse consequences of climate and environmental changes.
- Policies are being underwritten in the context of emerging technologies.
- The regulatory environment. The increasingly complex regulatory frameworks and scrutiny is giving rise to increased volumes of investigations.
How we can help
Our forensic accounting and investigation services team is comprised of dedicated specialists spanning the full spectrum of forensic accounting and investigation services:
- Disputes–acting as party-appointed, single joint Expert or Expert advisor in a host of litigation, English and international arbitration, and Alternative Dispute Resolution procedures. Our experts are experienced in a range of disputes including loss of profits and business interruption, contract disputes, transaction disputes including completion accounts disputes and breach of warranty, contentious valuations, and professional negligence
- Investigations–undertaking large and complex investigations nationally and internationally. This includes financial, regulatory, and fraud investigations
- Forensic Technology–we have a dedicated forensic technology team that specialises in data acquisition, data filtering and triage, data processing, data hosting, and data analysis
Our forensic accounting and investigations team is routinely appointed by insurers and their legal representatives in the context of claims made under policies underwritten by insurers. This involves quantifying the economic value of these claims in the following areas:
- Property - investigation, and quantification of business interruption claims
- Causality / Liability - investigation and quantification of financial losses arising from professional negligence, product liability, and personal injury
- Financial lines - investigation and quantification of financial losses arising from warranty and indemnity insurance, merger and acquisition insurance, and directors and officers insurance.
- Fraud investigations - investigations into allegations of fraud in the context of claims
Case studies |
1) Appointed to undertake an investigation into an alleged fraud involving a portfolio of high net wealth clients of an insurer. The alleged fraud was in respect of an employee who, inter alia, allegedly transferred client funds to bank accounts controlled by him and used client credit card details to perform unauthorised transactions. The output of our investigation identified the extent of the fraud and identified detailed recommendations. |
2) Appointed to perform a financial audit of a loss-making reinsurance contract based in the Middle East following the identification of errors in the preparation of the quarterly bordereaux. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we were required to complete this work entirely remotely. |
3) Appointed as an Expert Witness in an Australian class action relating to the sale of "add-on" insurance products. The products at issue were sold over a 10 year period for a total of AU$900 million. We were instructed to assess the value (financial or otherwise) that these products delivered to customers. |
4) Instructed as an Expert Witness by Insurers in the context of a claim under Warranty and Indemnity policy. The Purchaser entered into a share purchase agreement to purchase the entire share capital of a technology company. Following completion, the Buyer brought a claim for compensation as a result of an alleged overstatement of profit in the warranted accounts. It was claimed that the enterprise value of the target was substantially lower than the purchase price paid as a result of the alleged breach of warranty. |
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