This article will not just concentrate on online car fraud, but on the signs one should watch out for when they are out and about on the road. The signs being, ‘staged accidents’ in order for the fraudsters to claim off the insurance of the policy holder.
False claims Online for car insurance has become huge, and makes massive profits for those involved. In the United States, it is rampant, and policy holders should do everything in their power to ensure that they are not scammed, and stung for huge amounts of money. What normally happens with car insurance companies is that they have been known to scam gullible customers. These customers are entitled to their money yet do not receive it.
Online car insurance fraud comes in two forms, soft and hard. Soft insurance claims refer to those people who may have been involved in an accident, and received injuries, but upon their claim, they exaggerate their injuries – making them sound worse than they really are in order to claim more from their insurance. Soft insurance fraud also involves, minor offences such as being opportunistic, or taking advantage of the circumstances as they happen. Again, this is fraud against the insurance company.
Someone may be legitimately injured yet their insurance company refuses to pay them {that is fraud on the part of the insurance company against their customer}. However, hard insurance claims are harder and more serious to detect. These involve the staging of ‘accidents’ in order to claim on the victims insurance.
In both cases of soft and hard insurance fraud, this can hit the policyholder – and also the insurance companies hard in the pocket. One has to remember also, that car insurance fraud is not just committed against policyholders, but insurance companies too, have been known not to pay their customers for legitimate claims, again, as explained above, this is classed as fraud.
Car insurance fraud has become big business. Undetected car insurance claims [especially in the United Kingdom} total a staggering £1.9 billion a year. This figure has not just been pulled out of a hat, but are the figure that the Car Insurance Bureau, in the United Kingdom, has worked out.
This cost is another added problem for policyholders – who have to pay, on average, an extra £44.00 annually. But how can we stop this? How can we recognise car fraud for what it is and so, therefore, put an end to yearly charges that are added onto policy holders as a direct result of car fraud?
Insurers do not believe that customers should be paying for the misdeeds of others and so they set up the Car Insurance Bureau. This organisation was set up to specifically target and disrupt those who willfully commit insurance crime within the United Kingdom. Organised fraudsters are constantly using insurance in order to line their own pockets. Because of this, the extra cost is passed onto the customer, who see a big hike in what they have to pay yearly.
There are many ways in which car insurance fraud is committed. One of the ways that this happens is through ‘staged accidents’. If you suspect that you have been set-up {in other words, you may suspect that an accident was ‘staged’} you must report this to your insurers immediately.
Such incidents are normally called the ‘targeting of innocent motorists’. This is a growing problem not just in the United Kingdom, but in the USA too. Obviously, it is also a major risk to public safety. Criminal networks are being watched very closely by the CIB {Car Insurance Bureau} who work closely with regional police forces, to expose, smash and crush the fraudsters, and those criminal networks that are involved in this kind of insurance scam.
Normally, staged accidents happen when the fraudsters drive to busy roundabouts, slip roads, or road junctions. Once they get there, they then perform totally unnecessary – and completely unexpected to the innocent motorist – emergency stops. These emergency stops are designed in such a way so that innocent motorists crash into them.
Claims are then made to the insurer of the innocent motorist. This is exasperated even more with fictitious accounts of make-believe injuries that the fraudster received during the ‘crash’. These claims can run into several or more accounts and every single time a fraudster is successful, they can clinch up to £30.000. No wonder it is a lucrative business – albeit dangerous and illegal – for the criminal gangs who do this kind of thing.
Also there is very strong evidence to show that the proceeds from their false claims are used to fund other types of criminal activity as well. As explained above, all those that claim, fraudulently, add £44.00 to the annual cost policyholders face each year. However, there are things that the motorist can do in order to protect themselves from this type of crime.
If you notice that you are being followed, by a car behind you and especially if the driver of that car is driving in such a way that he or she would cause an accident, give that car a wide berth.. Again, this is especially so if you are about to approach a roundabout, or a junction. However, if you are involved in an accident, yet you feel that this was done on purpose, record as much detail as you can. Get names, addresses, dates of birth, make of car, how many people were in the car, the time of day, and the area in which the accident happened.
if you have a camera, or mobile phone, take pictures of the accident, car, and the people involved. Take pictures from every single view point. Normally, there will be no problem with doing this however, things have been known to get nasty, once a camera is produced. It is at that point that your suspicions should really be raised. Remember to never compromise, or put your personal safety at risk.
If there were any witnesses to the accident, get their names and addresses too – if it is possible of course. Always make sure, however, that you inform your insurer over what has happened, and also of your concern that you may have been targeted by fraudsters.