Beware of Car Insurance Fraudsters

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Tips on how to avoid being the victim of insurance scams

Surely ‘Insurance Fraud’ isn’t an uncommon term to many of us but what exactly is it? Insurance fraud is an act committed to obtain benefit, usually financial, or some type of advantage which you are not entitled to.

From staged car crashes to personal injury claims, pet fraud to health care, the list of insurance fraud is seemingly endless. There are no excuses or exceptions when it comes to fraud, it’s cheating insurance providers, in a lot of cases, affecting innocent people and putting the economy at a massive financial disadvantage. Fraud is a criminal offense with penalties of imprisonment up to ten years, a significant financial penalty or both.

Although Insurance fraud is not only subject to car insurance claims, this has seen the biggest rise in dishonest motor claims over the past year.

Even if you’ve never been involved in insurance fraud, motorists are still paying for it with increased insurance premiums. That’s worth thinking about for a moment. Fraudulent auto insurance claims could be costing your household an extra £50 a year.

Making sure that you’re not subject to victimisation for car insurance fraud can be difficult but you should try and take caution to avoid being caught in the middle of an auto insurance scam. Besides putting your safety at risk, there are other things to consider in the event that the car accident was organised.

How can you avoid car insurance scams?

Never drive too closely to other vehicles as sudden braking can occur in any case. Try to anticipate traffic ahead of the immediate car, by doing this you’ll be more capable of predicting the flow of traffic.

Watch out for suspicious or careless drivers on the road. Be alert and follow the correct ‘code of conduct’.

Check your vehicle insurance policy to make sure that the details are valid and ask about your auto insurance provider about anything that you don’t understand. Beware of fake insurance brokers! In the event of an accident, don’t hand over your personal information to any extra parties, liaise directly with your own insurance company and the other drivers’ insurance company.

Collate your own evidence. Make a note of all relevant details including the other drivers’ car registration and contact details, the number of passengers and take photographs of the scene.

Make sure that your own vehicle is insured and road worthy. Avoid being accused by other motorists particularly, of being at fault in an attempt to raise a fraudulent insurance claim.

File a police report even for minor accidents and be on your guard. If the other motorist has suspicious behaviour when the police arrive at the scene of the accident, this may be a warning that a potential scam is underway.

The aftermath of any road accident is an issue all by itself but moreover, if the accident was a coordinated effort, there are unwarranted legal matters to resolve, higher insurance premiums and flawed driving records. Beware of insurance fraudsters.

It’s worth using our insurance write-off calculator to find out more about accepting a buy back offer.