Have You Committed Insurance Fraud?

I’m an honest person so there’s no way that I would commit insurance fraud!!!!  That’s how most of us feel.  I know most people are honest and they wouldn’t think of doing something like insurance fraud.  Insurance fraud cost consumers about $40 billion a year according to FBI statistics.  That cost to every family in the U.S. $400 - $700 a year. 

There are two types of fraud.  One is called hard insurance fraud and the other is soft insurance fraud. 

Hard insurance fraud is committed by people that scheme against the insurance company for profit.  Some examples of this would be.

1.      Someone that files a theft claim and declare items stolen that weren’t.

2.      Setting fire to a vehicle to get the full payout. 

3.      Someone that fakes an injury to be able to not work and get paid.

4.      Agent takes money for a policy but never issues the policy.

5.      Stage an accident to collect medical payments.

Soft fraud is more common and people do it without thinking they are doing anything wrong.  Here are some examples of soft insurance fraud. 

1.      When a theft occurs you add value or extra items to the claim.

2.      You don’t tell the truth as to how many miles you actually drive to and from work.

3.      You don’t list all drivers to your auto insurance policy.

4.      You use a different address that you know will give you a cheaper insurance rate. 

5.      A repair shop adds the price of a repair charged to the insurance company so you don’t have to pay your deductible.

6.      Add coverage to your policy to pay for a claim that already happened. (for example you have a crack in your windshield and you call your agent to add glass coverage so it will be covered)

7.      You have the shop fix more damage to your vehicle that was not the result from the claim.

8.      Rate a kid on a vehicle that they never drive to get a lower premium.

One thing I do for my clients is try to find ways to save them money on their insurance.  If we all work together and report insurance fraud we can help each other out and hopefully save money in the long term.

 Raymond E. Grim is an insurance agent and owner of Raymond E. Grim Agency LLC with American Family Insurance.  He has been serving the Surprise, AZ area since 2001.  Raymond specializes in auto insurance, home insurance, life insurance, and business insurance.  Raymond is also an active member of the Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce.  Raymond along with his wife are also associate pastors for CFTN Surprise.  Raymond along with his staff gives honest and quality service for your insurance needs.  

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