Unified insurance database to boost transparency and fraud detection

• IRCSL launches SL’s first Centralised Insurance Data Repository in partnership with CRIB
• Motor insurance data to be integrated first, with health and life segments to follow

Sri Lanka’s insurance regulator has moved to overhaul how risk is priced and fraud is tracked across the industry, with the launch of the country’s first Centralised Insurance Data Repository, in partnership with the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB) of Sri Lanka.

The Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (IRCSL) said the platform, developed and operated by the CRIB, would consolidate the industry-wide insurance data into a single national system, replacing the decades of fragmented, insurer-specific databases.

The initiative, conceptualised under the leadership of IRCSL Chairman Dr. Ajith Raveendra De Mel, marks the first time the insurance data across companies will be pooled into a unified, secure repository. 

The motor insurance data will be integrated first, with the health and life segments to follow.

For years, the insurers maintained the customer risk profiles and claims histories in isolated systems, limiting visibility into broader fraud patterns and market-wide exposure. The new repository is expected to provide real-time access to the claims data, enabling the companies to detect duplicate or suspicious claims, including multiple claims for the same incident across different insurers and to strengthen the underwriting discipline.

The shift is designed to move the sector towards a more data-driven operating model, supporting fairer and more consistent pricing through improved risk assessment. Beyond fraud prevention, the central database is also expected to generate market-level insights, helping the insurers identify underserved and uninsured segments, potentially widening the insurance penetration in a country where the coverage levels remain relatively low compared with the regional peers.

From a customer standpoint, the platform is expected to support digital identity verification, faster policy issuance and more efficient claims processing by reducing manual documentation and processing delays. The system has been built with advanced technology architecture capable of supporting analytics and artificial intelligence-driven applications in the future, the IRCSL said.

The launch was formalised with the signing of subscription agreements between the CRIB and chief executive officers of the licensed general insurance companies, signalling industry-wide participation in what the regulators describe as a structural reform of the sector’s data backbone.