Are you unhappy with the treatment your insurance company has been giving you? Has their customer service department fallen short of your expectations? Are you angry enough about this situation to actually commit insurance fraud? It seems that some people are willing to take that risk.
What is insurance fraud? It is the term used when a person, (or group of people), intentionally lie to an insurance company about the true events in a situation that caused that person to file a claim. This can take all kinds of different forms.
Let’s say a person was in a minor car accident, and wasn’t hurt. The person goes to his doctor, complaining of intense pain he doesn’t actually feel. This person is hoping to manipulate this situation, so he can file a claim with his insurance company. This is just one example of insurance fraud. It is also considered to be fraud when a person stages a car accident, or causes damage to his car on purpose, and then files a claim and tells an insurance company that something entirely different occurred. It is considered to be insurance fraud if keep your spouse on your employee health insurance after the two of you have divorced, and neglect to inform the insurance company of this change. Did you let your college aged child drive your car at school this semester? If you didn’t let your insurance company know about who is really driving your car, and an accident happens, filing a claim might be a form of insurance fraud.
What motivates a person to commit insurance fraud? A recent survey done by a company called Accenture finds more than half of U.S. Consumers said that poor service from an insurance company is likely to cause a person to commit fraud against that insurance company. In other words, if an insurance company has made a person very angry because their customer service stinks, that person is highly motivated to commit fraud as a form of revenge. Perhaps the thinking goes something like this: “What! They aren’t going to pay for the cost of my visit to the ER! Well, let’s see how they like paying for my ex’s expensive dental work!” No matter how frustrated or enraged your insurance company makes you, it is a bad idea to commit insurance fraud. You might end up in court, or even in jail. It’s just not worth it!
Image by Mike Tungate on Flickr