Filling the Total-Loss Gap in Anti-Fraud and Theft Recovery Workflows

November 10, 2025 / 3 min read

When auto insurers seek to validate total loss claims or recover vehicles after a theft, online marketplaces can be a critical resource for clues to potential fraud or the location of a stolen car. A vehicle offered for sale near the date of a fire, flood, or theft claim may suggest that a financially distressed policyholder staged the loss. And after a legitimate theft claim, missing cars can turn up for sale anywhere in the world if organized criminals take them.

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But this investigative avenue can be hard to pursue effectively for a variety of reasons:

The process is often manual, labor-intensive, and time-consuming—entering vehicle identification numbers one by one, one e-commerce site at a time, searching for a match.
The number of sites to search could run into the hundreds or more, presenting a high logistical hurdle for claims teams using manual methods.
Online listings are fleeting; they disappear from live websites as soon as the vehicles are sold or taken down by unsuccessful sellers.

Making more of what’s already there

Users of Verisk’s ClaimSearch® have new ways to maximize this valuable intelligence source for antifraud and subrogation. In partnership with Legentic, Verisk now offers two digital tools:

Digital Commerce Detector compares key claim details, including VINs, against an exhaustive database of current and archived online sale listings. As early as first notice of loss (FNOL), claims professionals can have total loss claims flagged for further investigation based on attempts to sell these vehicles or their parts.

Digital Asset Finder uses the same sources, which include up to 10 years of archived listings, to find matches for stolen vehicles, even if they’ve been shipped overseas for sale. With this information, insurers may choose to begin the recovery process to recoup some portion of the claim payout.

Legentic’s exclusive data set and Verisk’s automation capabilities create a unique digital solution, and it’s ready to activate in ClaimSearch with no IT lift for existing users. Legentic, well-established in Europe, already has 6,000 users, and early indications show the potential of Legentic-powered tools for U.S. insurers.

A trove of investigative leads

Testing of these solutions on Verisk client portfolios has revealed the potential for millions of dollars in subrogation and stolen vehicle recoveries across thousands of claims. Such findings illustrate how these tools could multiply the impact of claims teams and special investigation units by delivering more information upfront with less manual labor. At first notice of loss, ClaimSearch sends searchable data points to the Legentic database, where the content of online listings has been extracted and organized into matchable search fields. The database returns any hits to ClaimSearch, and users can then be notified of cases that may warrant further investigation.

With Digital Asset Finder, carriers can submit stolen vehicle data in bulk, which is then monitored for matches with VINs in online sale listings or shipping information. Any hits, once reported, can trigger a carrier’s recovery workflow.

Room to grow

The availability of these tools through ClaimSearch puts them in reach of 95% of the U.S. property and casualty industry, which translates to an enormous possible impact on anti-fraud and subrogation efforts. Verisk and Legentic have just begun to explore how their complementary strengths may unlock new capabilities, extend them from auto to other insurable assets, and even serve clients beyond the insurance industry.

Learn more about Digital Commerce Detector, Digital Asset Finder, and the full range of Verisk's ClaimSearch antifraud tools.