Scott Clayton, Head of Claims Fraud for Zurich, has been appointed as the new Chair of the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), with effect from 1 January 2026.

Clayton replaces Karl Helgesen, Intact Insurance’s Chief Operating Officer, UK & International and Personal Lines Managing Director, who has reached the end of his tenure as Chair.

Helgesen joined the IFB Board in February 2019 and was appointed as Chair seven months later. He has led the IFB through many milestones and achievements, including launching the new IFB Exploration platform, which has resulted in a tenfold increase in proactive intelligence being shared with the industry and seen proactive network alerts, for the first time, serving as the basis of successful investigation referrals to the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

Under Helgesen’s leadership, the IFB delivered its Forward Together strategy, which involved putting the foundations in place to broaden its membership both in size but also in types of products and services to create more future value to the industry. The IFB also updated its technology and most significantly, reviewed and planned for future needs. In addition, the IFB looked at innovative ways to support the industry to have better fraud prevention solutions on industry communications and campaigns, generating widespread public awareness and engagement.

Karl Helgesen said: “I’m proud of all we’ve achieved at the IFB and our impact on society and the industry. It’s exciting to see what the future holds, and I’d encourage the industry to keep on collaborating and contributing through data and intelligence, member events and supporting our campaigns. Now is the right time to hand the batten over to Scott who has a wealth of experience and passion when it comes to fighting insurance fraud together as a collective.”

Commenting on his new role as Chair, Scott Clayton added: “Being appointed as Chair of the IFB Board is a real honour. I’ve been a keen supporter since it was formed in 2006 and was delighted to join the Board in November 2023 under Karl’s leadership, allowing me to help shape the direction. I’m now excited to take over the batten from Karl and can’t wait to get going as we move into delivering our new five-year strategy, Connected to Protect.”

2024 Highlights

• Over £153.3 million in suspected insurance fraud investigated
• 7,729 fraud submissions and 72,864 member searches
• 553 unique users from 36 organisations accessed the new IFiHUB
• Shift Technology appointed to deliver our future-ready tech solution
• Over 10 million video views and 113,000 clicks to additional information, from digital campaigns
• Award-winning campaign focused on raising awareness of insurance fraud and tackling opportunistic fraud
• 51 events hosted with 1,400 attendees from across the membership
• A new value proposition co-created with members to guide our future

Karl also added:
“Thanks to the invaluable collaboration and input of our members, we’ve made great strides towards achieving our shared vision.”

“On behalf of myself, the Board and the IFB Leadership team, a huge thanks for the ongoing support and contribution of all our members.”

Discover how these achievements align with our strategic pillars in the full report.