Allianz helps shape new fraud NVQ to mitigate skills challenge

A new insurance and financial services fraud qualification is set to launch later this year following a collaboration between government bodies, training providers and industry specialists, with insurer Allianz UK playing a key role in its development.

The new national vocational qualification (NVQ), focused on fraud risk management and horizon scanning, is being developed through a working group brought together by the Cabinet Office as government concerns continue to grow around rising fraud levels across financial services.

Matt Crabtree, head of financial crime, intelligence and investigations at Allianz UK, told Insurance Times that the new qualification had been designed to help close a long-standing skills gap in the insurance market, while also creating clearer development routes for fraud professionals.

In an exclusive conversation, Crabtree explained that UK general insurance (UKGI) needed to place greater emphasis on developing fraud talent alongside making investments in technology and data that supports fraud detection, mitigation and prevention.

“We do a lot around the tech, the data and the intelligence,” he said. “But the people bit is where we’ve got a real call to arms as an industry, to work together and actually train our people.”

The new NVQ is expected to focus heavily on fraud risk assessment, emerging threat identification and structured horizon scanning, areas Crabtree believes will become increasingly important as fraud risks evolve.

He said: “The skills that we need to come out of this [qualification] is horizon scanning and preparing for the future of fraud risks, doing that in a structured and educated way [where] we teach people how to do proper risk assessments and threat assessments.”

‘A real gap’

The NVQ is currently going through final government sign off after the bulk of the qualification’s construction was undertaken in 2025.

Allianz became involved in the qualification design process via its existing training provider, Intelligencia Training, which was already part of the Cabinet Office’s working group.

Allianz has been using Intelligencia Training internally for a couple of years now – for example, three of Crabtree’s team are just concluding adjacent training opportunities, while others are currently undertaking specialist level four qualifications in intelligence analysis and fraud investigations.

Although the newly created NVQ will be applicable across the wider financial services sector rather than just insurance specifically, Crabtree said Allianz had taken a significant stake in ensuring that stronger, sector specific fraud capabilities were developed within the NVQ’s remit.

“Fraud continues to increase across financial services and that’s what we see within our sector,” he said. “This is fundamentally about filling a gap.”

The qualification programme will follow a workplace learning structure similar to other NVQs, combining classroom-based learning with practical assessments over a period expected to last between 15 to 24 months.

Crabtree added that Allianz had already identified strong interest in the new course ahead of its launch.

He said: “We’ve probably had six or seven people already come forward saying they’d like to understand more when it goes live.”

Career development route

Crabtree, who himself entered the insurance industry via the NVQ route, said workplace-based qualifications could offer an important alternative career path for people who may not wish to pursue a university education.

“I’m a massive fan of that route,” he told Insurance Times. “College and university are great for the right people, but that doesn’t suit everybody.”

He also stressed that the new NVQ could help create stronger progression opportunities for specialists who do not necessarily want to move into line management roles.

He said: “You don’t want to just have to go [into] line management type roles to progress your career.

“We need people advancing those fraud and risk management skills are well.

“When it comes to fraud investigation [and] detection, you need four pieces of the jigsaw – technology, data, intelligence and people. I see this qualification strengthening [that] fourth piece.”