Insuring the truth: protecting your business against misinformation

 Whether it’s cyber-attacks leading to claims on policies, fake claims using AI generated images of damage to property, or misinformation spreading on social media, the insurance sector needs to have robust systems for detecting fallacies and deception.  

We generally default to believing what we’re told, so we need strategies to spot the risks.

Five tips to protect against misinformation

The best defence is to ensure everyone has the right skills to spot red flags and interrogate the information they receive. 

At Kinch Robinson, our skills-based practical courses are for professionals working at all levels in insurance. Alongside our training on claims handling, we offer a Critical Thinking Course with a module focusing on Detecting Lies and Misinformation. 

Here are our top five tips for assessing whether information is reliable.  

1. Can you trust the source of the information? 

Ask yourself:

• Does this look too good to be true? 
• Is the source reasonably likely to know? 
• Does the source have a motive for providing false information? 
• Why should I trust this source?

2. Is your own bias having an impact? 

We can all be affected by confirmation bias, which is the tendency to believe information which supports views we already hold.  Ask yourself:

• Do I ‘want’ this information to be true? 
• Is there any information which contradicts my existing views?

3. Is your mood affecting your thinking? 

Experiments show that we are more susceptible to deception when in a good mood. By contrast, a bad mood can increase our vigilance against being deceived.   

 4. Are there any inconsistencies? 

We are better at spotting falsehoods when we look for inconsistencies in the information itself.   Ask yourself:

• Does this make sense in the light of what I already know?
• What other reliable sources can I use to cross-check?
• If looking at a photo, can I check the meta data or run a reverse image search?  

5. What about the Halo effect? 

Most people have a tendency to think favourably about all aspects of another person based simply on a positive view of their appearance.   You can avoid this trap by following the other tips no matter who you are dealing with.

Kinch Robinson are proud to be an Airmic Endorsed Learning Provider. You can find out more about what we have on offer here https://www.airmic.com/endorsed-learning-providers, where you will also find our contact details.  

Airmic members get a 20% discount on all e-learning from Kinch Robinson.  Use the code 2024AIRMIC at checkout.

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