Car insurance fraud is what happens when someone lies or makes a mistake to get a better insurance price or a larger claim payout. Car insurance fraud examples could be such as a simple lie, like listing an unfair ZIP code on your policy information to get a lower rate, or something as drastic as deliberately causing an accident to receive an insurance payout.
Insurance fraud impacts millions of people across the U.S., including those who have never directly been put themselves or included in a scam. A study from Verisk found that premium leakage costs insurers $29 billion per year. That cost to insurers often gets passed on to drivers, who provide higher premiums as a result. Drivers in Florida and New York—ttwo states in which auto fraud schemes exist—may want to be specifically aware. Florida and New York have the largest records of car insurance fraud in the U.S.
5 common types of car insurance fraud
1. Counterfeit airbags
Airbags have saved more than 50,000 lives since they were introduced, according to a study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, making them a key tool for ensuring driver and passenger safety. However, after an accident, there are rare cases in which deployed airbags are exchanged with counterfeits during the repair timeframe. This can be full of risk for individuals.
While the NHTSA says that counterfeit airbags are rare—iit estimates that fake airbags represent less than 0.1 percent of what is installed in U.S. vehicles—tthey bring a risk of explosion, and metal shrapnel makes them a danger to drivers and vehicle occupants.
2. Staged accidents
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) linked staged accidents as a “big business” that drivers must be aware of how to spot and handle. They carry any incidents where a driver intentionally or strategically causes a collision with another vehicle to get a fraudulent insurance payout.
Staged accident claims may result in claims ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, but some fraud rings may work collectively to receive even more, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in total.
3. Agent fraud
CAIF says one of the worst-case cases involves a clever and lacklustre insurance professional who steals your premiums. The unscrupulous agent pockets your money and doesn’t set up the coverage, so when an accident happens, you come to know that you have no insurance to pay your claim and have to cover the loss on your own expenses.
4. Windscreen replacement rip-offs
Windscreen exchange deductibles may vary by state, insurer, and policy. However, three states—FFlorida, Kentucky, and South Carolina—ddo not permit insurance companies to charge a deductible for windscreen replacement. Unscrupulous glass replacement contractors in these states have used this as a beneficial way to trick customers into having their windscreens exchanged, even if minimal damage is seen.
5. Towing scam
In the beginning, a tow truck visible after an accident or breakdown may seem like the best luck. A bandit tow service will likely ask that your vehicle be brought to their shop on your own, where they will request that you pay them hundreds of dollars to repair and release the vehicle.
A study from the American Transportation Research Institute found that the most common forms of towing scams are excess rates and not-required or useless charges, and that most consumers have been victims of these scams.