The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) announced a new strategic partnership with Honk Technologies that will combine both organizations’ data and intelligence capabilities to combat fraud and abusive practices related to vehicle towing, impound, storage and salvage.

Through this partnership, NICB and Honk said they will establish paths for sharing information and emerging fraud intelligence across NICB’s consortium of fraud-fighting partners as new issues and questionable activity emerges across the towing and vehicle services marketplace.

NICB highlighted this collaboration expands on its approach by fostering cooperation between roadside assistance providers, insurance companies, and law enforcement agencies to identify and address insurance fraud and related criminal activity.

NICB added that partnerships enable to convert information that might otherwise remain isolated into actionable insights that protect insurers, legitimate businesses and policyholders from the costly burden of fraud.

“Fraud and questionable practices both on and off the road can create significant costs for consumers and insurers alike,” said Tim Slater, Chief Operating Officer of NICB. “By working closely with Honk and combining information from our respective networks, we can identify concerning activity sooner, provide the key information that helps solve cases and strengthen our protections against fraud and abuse in the vehicle services ecosystem.”

Honk is a technology platform designed to modernize the way towing and roadside assistance are delivered nationwide.

Working with leading insurance carriers, automotive companies, fleets and mobility providers, Honk can connect motorists with a nationwide network of service providers while capturing real-time data across the service lifecycle.

That combination of technology, network scale and operational visibility gives Honk a unique perspective into trends and activity across the towing and roadside ecosystem.

“Because of the volume of towing and roadside activity that moves through our platform, we have a unique view into what’s happening on the ground across the country,” Honk president Matt Bijur said. “Fraudulent and predatory practices hurt motorists and insurers, but they also hurt the reputation and livelihood of honest, hardworking service providers doing things the right way.

“Our partnership with NICB gives us a way to turn what we’re seeing into actionable intelligence that can help root out bad actors and protect the broader towing and roadside ecosystem,” Bijur added.