Fraud in Car Insurance
When thinking about car insurance scams, you may be thinking about the large companies that collect your monthly premium and then don’t pay out on legitimate claims. However, the majority of auto insurance scams actually come from the person paying for the insurance. Ever wonder why your car insurance quote is as expensive as it is? Below, we will go over a few of the most common car insurance scams:
One example of car insurance scams would be someone conveniently getting into an accident that requires the engine be replaced when it just hit 150,000 miles.
Another would be someone who arranges an auto accident at pretty low speeds, but then scams their insurance company for thousands in medical bills and perhaps even a settlement in civil court because the damage in their back just won’t allow them to ever work again.
Taking this a step further, the scammer may even bring a few friends along for the accident, and then claim that these passengers also suffered injuries. The friends settle for a goodly sum, and then give the primary culprit a percentage of their take.
Perhaps the most common auto insurance scam is the person who gets into a smaller accident, and because they want the parts replaced and not repaired, they inflict additional damage after the accident.
Finally, it may not be the owner of the car but the repair shop who devises the scam. Some shops will drastically inflate the costs of repairs, reasoning that the money isn’t really coming out of anyone’s pocket.
Insurance companies that provide auto coverage have a few defenses against scams. One is the use of deductables. Since the insurance holder has to pay out of pocket the full amount of the deductable before the company has to pay anything, this theoretically reduces the incentive to use insurance. Second, making a claim against your insurance can result in a significant increase in premiums, and this increase can be applied for years. Again, this discourages frivolous and fraudulent use. Finally, fraud is a criminal offense, and offenders can be prosecuted. Those convicted may face jail time.
In the end, though, the people who are hurt most by fraud are the innocent people who do nothing wrong. They are the ones who have to make up for fraud losses in the form of higher premiums. Because every auto insurance quote has some amount factored in for fraud.
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