In the last of my impromptu series of blog posts about home insurance and car insurance fraud, I thought I would post some real-life examples of insurance fraud.The following examples (all of which are from the USA) are sourced from the Coalition against Insurance Fraud (USA), and are tragic examples of how car insurance fraud, home insurance fraud and life insurance fraud are not victimless crimes.  Car insurance fraudIn 1997, Long Beach California, two men attempted to stage a car accident to collect car insurance money by stopping suddenly on a freeway in front of a tract...

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Having posted twice recently about car insurance fraud, I didn’t want to ignore the all-too prevalent reality of house insurance and contents insurance fraud.  It has been suspected by many, that home insurance fraud would increase with the global financial crisis. And it would seem that suspicion has become a reality.  In a statement released by Western Australian insurer RAC, it was noted by Technical Claims Manager Glen Walker that “This is the highest level of fraud referrals we’ve experienced. It’s a concerning trend that people seem to think insuran...

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My post on car insurance fraud yesterday prompted me to remember a recent scandal on UK TV show Top Gear. I happen to know nothing about cars, but have a husband who knows everything, so we sit down together each week to watch the show and I happened to catch this scandal as it aired. As usual with Top Gear, the three hosts were issued a challenge: to see which of them could obtain the cheapest car insurance for a young 17 year old male driver. When it dawned on the trio that there is usually no such thing as cheap car insurance for 17 year olds, the three hosts got in touch with the...

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Earlier in the year we reported on the link between car insurance and the global financial crisis, with the likelihod that car insurance fraud would increase as people struggled to pay the bills. One such car insurance fraud scheme taking advantage of people struggling to pay thier cars has been uncovered in Miami. Full text of the news article outlining the car insurance fraud scheme is included below. Hialeah (Miami) police crack car insurance fraud schemeParked on the side of the road -- a For Sale sign scrawled on the window -- the seller asked $7,000 cash for the black 2006 Merc...

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When you think about your car insurance, or when getting a car insurance quote and thinking about what YOU think a fair price for your car insurance should be, do you only think about your own driving behaviour? Or when thinking about car insurance, do you also think about other drivers on the road? Did you know that the 2008 Community Attitudes to Road Safety Survey reported that: 5% of drivers admit to driving over the legal blood alcohol limit; 56% of drivers answer mobile phone calls while driving; 17% of drivers report having fallen asleep at the wheel; 28% of drivers read t...

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