Insurance rates are as high as they are thanks to, in part, those who abuse and try to extort money from insurers. Congratulations to all the fraudsters that stage accidents and submit bogus claims: not only do you tarnish honest peoples’ reputation among insurers, you make the insurer’s decision to raise his or her rates a very easy one. Congratulations mate: karma is the fine peoples’ gift back to you.
Digressing, though, let’s take a brief look at three popular, bogus personal injury compensation claims.
“Scarred For Life, Mate!”
The car–a seemingly innocuous box on wheels for transporting people from here to there–where sometimes tempers flare, and sometimes even bumpers kiss. Phony claims of bodily injuries (and many times, embellishing them quite well) in car accidents are one of the most common bogus accident claims. What seems like a harmless fender-bender often turns into a he-said, she-said fiasco between the parties–with the party in the lead car often citing various injuries sustained to him or her. They’ll go to great lengths to prove it, and this usually involves going to the chiropractor to get an over-hyped report on their “grave” injuries. Often, the good ‘ole doctor will list ailments as soft-tissue damage and try to exacerbate the extent of the injury.
Stop faking it ‘ole chap. Everyone knows, already, that you’re not really hurt!
Throwing Yourself in Front of Traffic Hoping for a Big Payout
You know the drill: a group of young people (all of whom are usually in on the scheme) fill-up a little 3door, hit the road, and wait until the perfect opportunity arises where they can leap in front of another car and slam on the brakes. Then, of course, each is automatically suffering from the worst possible ailments and need medical attention, stat! As it turns out, what do you know–they’ve passed up the hospital in favor of the chiropractor. The worst part about this scenario is that the chiropractor, or other physician, is sometimes working in concert with the criminals–in hopes that he/she will get kick-backs.
Just when you thought that all doctors were good…
“I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up, I Think”
This one doesn’t have much in common with automobiles, but it does involve the same basic M/O: taking the insurance company for a ride by faking an injury. Among the ploys where dishonest people seek damages (such as worker’s compensation and even by taking things to civil court) are: claims made that assert that he/she was injured at work (when, in fact, the injury was acquired outside of work), and setting the stage to injure themselves at or off the job and make it appear like an accident and claim it was job-related.
Beat Fraudsters at Their Own Game
There are many steps that you can take to protect yourself against would-be fraudsters. In an auto accident, take plenty of pictures; make absolutely no admission of guilt to anyone (even if it may seem compelling that you’re at fault); ask the officer to ascertain the extent of the other party’s injuries (if any); takes notes on what he finds (if anything), and ask the officer to put his John Hancock on them.
If you are involved in an auto accident of sorts or have an employee who is suspiciously claiming personal injury compensation, take a proactive stance. Make sure that you get all of the facts, take photos whenever and wherever possible, and gather as much documentation as possible. Taking these actions will A. help mitigate the problem of fraudulent self-injury claims in general, and B. help prove the case against the defendant in court if it should go that far.
This article was researched and written by the team at ClaimLab.co.uk. For more related articles and useful advice, please see the related posts below: