Fraudulent insurance claims involving loss adjusters (2014/10/22) 

MR YIU SI-WING: President, the reply given by the authorities shows that the CCB of the Police established a dedicated team in 2011 to follow up such suspected fraudulent claims referred by the HKFI. Apart from these cases of fraud, in recent years we also found that there were people who had joined overseas package tours and lodged claims with insurance companies after experiencing traffic accidents abroad. We also suspect that there are lawyers who induce these tourists to engage in champerty action, demanding compensation from the tourist agencies. Do the authorities have any mechanism in place to deal with such acts of champerty?

SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY: President, I wish to say that any person who engages in any act of fraud or champerty commits a criminal offence and according to law, he is liable to a fine or a maximum term of imprisonment for seven years. We will continue our educational efforts and enhance our work in enforcement with a view to dealing with problems caused by recovery agents. We will enhance publicity through the media and step up enforcement to combat such illegal acts.