Car insurance is an essential of modern life. Not only is it required by state law in Louisiana and all other states, but also if you should be unfortunate enough to be involved in a car accident that results in damage to your vehicle, few would have sufficient funds to pay for repairs out of pocket on their own.
With millions of cars on the road, the value of that fleet is in the billions. And where there is a great deal of money, there is always a great deal of interest in obtaining some of that cash by nefarious means. Which means incidents of car insurance fraud are on the increase.
The number of questionable claims (QC) made involving car insurance increased more than 12 percent between 2011 and 2012. Eyebrow-raising claims from auto accidents out number questionable homeowner’s claims by more than a factor of four.
This is likely because phony claims for autos are so much easier to make. Accidents can be staged and crooked shops can conspire with these motorists to inflate claims for repairs never made or with overpriced parts. And staged accidents can extract an even greater price, if the fake accident causes a real chain-reaction crash and fatalities occur.
They may also fake injuries and work with health care providers to obtain payment for unnecessary medical treatments. All of this fakery comes with an enormous price tag, by some estimates as high as $80 billion a year. And it’s not just higher insurance premiums on your car, but in the increased price of hundreds of other products, where businesses pass along the extra insurance costs they are forced to pay.
Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime; you and everyone you know pays for it every day.
Foxbusiness.com, “The True Cost of Auto Insurance Fraud – How We All Pay In Increased Premiums,” moneytips.com, February 26, 2015
