As much as one-fifth of car accidents may not be accidents at all. Many insurance frauds stage car wrecks which are nearly indistinguishable from a real accident.
In 2017, the number of reported cases of insurance fraud were double what they were in 2016. With insurance fraud on the rise, it’s a good idea to learn what it is and how you can avoid being a victim.
What is insurance fraud?
Car insurance fraud happens when someone deceives a car insurance provider for their own gain. This is often done by staging car accidents or manipulating vulnerable individuals. Most instances of car insurance fraud are connected back to large-scale syndicates. At least five of these syndicates have been busted over the last several years—many serving years behind bars along with paying hefty fines.
How insurance fraud works
There are several different types of insurance fraud that you can find yourself a victim to on the road. Knowing what they are can help you not become a victim.
Some of these scenarios can include multiple cars, phantom drivers, fake witnesses, and passengers which are paid hundreds of dollars to carry out the plan and make claims against the target.
° The t-bone - the driver waits until a target reaches the middle of an intersection and then floors the gas to t-bone the targets car. Then, fake witnesses are paid to claim that the target ran a stoplight or stop sign.
° The sudden stop - the driver gets in front of the target and slams on the breaks so that the target rear ends the car. This can also be done with a third phantom driver which cuts off the car in front of the target—giving better plausibility to the accident.
° The side swiper - while making a left turn on a road with two left turn lanes, the driver turns into the target and claims the target started to switch lanes and caused the sideswipe.
° The wave in - when the target driver signals to switch lanes in traffic, the driver poses as a Good Samaritan and waves the target driver to signal letting them in. When the target begins to switch lanes, the driver then speeds up and hits the targets car, claiming that the target was driving recklessly.
Other types of car insurance frauds
° The tow truck scam - a tow truck shows up after an accident without being called. They then tow your car and hand you a hefty bill or take your car to a shady garage which will charge ridiculous prices for repairs. Your insurance company then may be forced to pay the bill.
° The windshield repair scam - a windshield repair person flags you down and gives you a reason why you need a new windshield. They then say that they take your insurance so that it will be at no cost to you. Then they replace your perfectly fine windshield with a cheaply made windshield and submit a claim (or multiply claims) with your insurance company.
° The counterfeit parts scam - when taking your car in for repairs, the repair shop uses cheap or old parts. In many cases, fraudulent shops have replaced a deployed airbag with trash.
How to avoid insurance fraud
There are a few ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of these insurance frauds. First, keep an eye out for suspicious drivers, “Good Samaritans,” and anyone offering something that sounds too good to be true.
Second, consider a dashboard camera. Having recorded evidence can help protect you from many staged accidents and scams. If you don’t have a dashboard camera, pay close attention to the road and the cars around you.
If you get in an accident, write down everything you noticed—especially the license plate number, color, make, and model of any phantom cars. Last but not least, only use workshops which are authorized by your insurance company.