STOP INSURANCE FRAUD
Take charge of your vehicle insurance, home insurance or life insurance. There are many sites that opt for the ‘quick fix’ solution – five minutes and you can have your car insurance sorted...so they say! At UK Fraud we believe it pays to spend a little extra time choosing your car insurance, home insurance or any insurance for that matter, to ensure that you are getting the policy that’s right for you, and that you really will get the services you pay for. A PC Pro investigation has revealed a gaping security hole in leading price-comparison websites. Please take a minute to read this intersting article
If you are in any doubt of the services provided by your insurance company, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.
UK Fraud has compiled a directory of reputable and regulated insurance companies for your convenience.
• CAR INSURANCE
Churchill Car Insurance
Direct Line Car Insurance (Not On Any Price Comparison Site)
Endsleigh Car Insurance
Yes Car Insurance
• MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE
• LIFE INSURANCE
• TRAVEL INSURANCE
Endsleigh Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance Web
Ski Insurance
• PET INSURANCE
• TENANTS' INSURANCE
Endsleigh Tenants Home Insurance
• BICYCLE INSURANCE
• STUDENT INSURANCE
Endsleigh Student Possessions Insurance
What Is Insurance Fraud?
When a claimant commits insurance fraud, s/he is intending to deceive and induce the insurance company to pay out more than it otherwise would. To establish these points the claimant’s motives need to be recognised. However, by the time a case reaches an insurance company, it is usually too late for them to uncover any new evidence. By then, claimants are usually well aware of any discrepancies in their version of events, and will have had ample opportunity to provide believable explanations – or to cloud the questionable issue with irrelevant pieces of information. It is far better if an insurance company has investigated the matter carefully at an earlier stage.
Where an insurance company suspects fraud, it should make its views known to the claimant, who then has the opportunity to respond to the allegations.
When investigating insurance claims involving an alleged fraud, the following guidelines are used to help reach an overall assessment.
An exaggeration of facts is not always fraud. And an insurance company should not reject the entire insurance claim simply because the claimant has mistaken the cost of replacing the item claimed for, or has an inaccurate recollection of its purchase price. To reject the claim, the insurance company must be able to show that the claimant was purposely trying to obtain more than s/he was entitled to.
For example, many people think that their car is worth more than the value placed on it by the insurance company’s engineer. But since they will not usually receive more than the market value for their vehicle when their claim is settled, their exaggerated view of the car’s worth will not render their claim void.
The fact that a claimant may have lied in another situation is not sufficient proof of fraud in the current claim. Some insurance companies have relied on a loss adjuster’s evidence regarding a different claim under another policy to demonstrate that a claimant has lied in connection with a current claim.
Such evidence may raise doubts about the accuracy of the claimant’s version of events in the current claim, but is not conclusive.
A claimant who provides a forged document to support a claim is not necessarily guilty of fraud. There must be some evidence to show that the customer knew the true source of the document. Even if a customer knowingly produces a false document, the insurance company may not be justified in rejecting the claim.
By insisting that claimants produce receipts for all the items they wish to claim for, insurance companies sometimes put claimants in a position where they may be tempted to create substitutes for lost receipts. So if claimants do produce false receipts, it is essential to determine why they did this. Was it just to prove transactions that really took place, or did the customers intend to deceive the insurance company and obtain more than they were entitled to?
Where the insurance company has sufficient evidence to justify rejecting a claim, and cancelling the policy, it is only entitled to recover any payments made in connection with earlier claims if it can show that the claimant completed the insurance proposal fraudulently. Insurance companies are not justified in cancelling a policy on the grounds that the claimant used false documents to support a claim.
In some cases involving claims for written-off vehicles, insurance companies appear to have asked claimants to substantiate the original purchase price of their vehicle. As a result, some claimants who had lost the original sales documents, or who had maybe purchased the vehicle through somewhat informal routes, have supplied false documents.
Other claimants have supplied false documents to try and substantiate a higher price than they had actually paid. This is clearly improper, however it does not justify the insurance company voiding the policy. The claim is for the current market price, not the original purchase price. As long as there is no doubt about ownership and no suggestion of fraud, the insurance company should meet such claims on the basis of the normal market value.
Where the issue of fraud is uncertain and relies on the evidence of third parties, it may be decided it would be more appropriate for the courts to determine the outcome.
Please, do not be tempted to create false statements in your insurance claims. As discussed earlier, everybody’s premiums increase, and insurance companies tend to come down harder and harder on genuine claimants.
Insurance Company Fraud / Broker Fraud
When choosing an insurance company to provide a service to you, such as your car insurance, home insurance, health insurance or life insurance, be sure to take time to select a reputable, regulated and well known insurance company to handle your affairs.
There have been a number of cases of insurance brokers taking premiums from it’s customers, and not insuring them – which have course has dire consequences for the individual who is under the impression that they are fully covered. Imagine buying car insurance for your Vauxhall Astra, and unfortunately becoming involved in a road traffic accident only to discover that you do not actually have an insurance policy.
With the new number-plate recognition systems now used by the police to detect drivers without vehicle insurance, you could quite easily be pulled over for not having vehicle insurance, despite you paying your insurance premium by direct debit for your insurance policy.
As all drivers are aware, the police may contact your insurance company to verify drivers’ details, and if they have no record of you on their system, their word is taken above yours and not only could your vehicle be towed away and held in a compound, you could face prosecution, a substantial fine and 6 points on your driving licence.
There have been numerous stories in the news recently about system failures of named insurance companies who disrupt the lives of drivers all over the UK. The Government have now become involved and hopefully this problem will be eliminated.
Unfortunately, there is nothing anyone can do about the failings Insurance Company systems, as it is humans who input the information. The DVLA have been a frequent guilty party on this front. You may think that the DVLA hanothing to do with Insurance…but wait…because the DVLA have made mistakes on numerous occasions and you happened to be one of the people whose details were wrong, it means that if you were to be stopped by the police and they did a driver check with DVLA and they found no record of you, they wouldn’t believe a word you said…and yes that means your Insurance is invalid. One now infamous story of a gentleman who had been driving for 20 years and was also an HGV Driver was shocked to find DVLA had no record of him and he must have had a fake licence, he lost his job and had to take his test and HGV test again. (BBC Watchdog)
Whilst we are on the subject, DVLA were reported to have made almost £6.5 million from the sale of motorists details to supposed legitimate business, however they were also allegedly sold to convicted criminals who were in prison for extorting money from motorists. The database details were sold for £2.50 each that means about 2.5 million addresses were sold to these companies. Did you get a letter demanding money for a parking notice/fine from a city that you have never visited? I did and I was so angry I broke stuff.
Is your vehicle on the Motor Insurance Database visit ASKMID
Fraudulent Insurance Claims
There has been a rise in insurance fraud which is costing the insurance companies an incredible £1.5 billion…and guess who foots the bill??
You might think that it’s quite acceptable to lie on your insurance form – that everyone does it and that you could make a few extra pounds, however, all this does is increase everybody elses insurance premiums, including your own. So, short term, you may have a bigger settlement but in the long run you’re just giving it all back to the insurance company – plus more because of the rise in insurance premiums.
Fraudulent insurance claims are a huge problem for the insurance companies. Fraud is alleged in a number insurance cases, which make them difficult to assess.
To establish that fraud has taken place, there has to be concrete evidence of lies, inconsistent statements or acts of deception. The fact that members of an insurance company’s staff are personally convinced of a claimant’s dishonesty is not sufficient proof.
Some companies employ a voice lie detector during telephone conversations with claimants, can you believe that?!