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Scottish
Car Insurance Fraud
According to the
Association of British Insurers (ABI),
fraudulent car insurance claims cost about
£600 million each year, which adds £30 to
the average annual car insurance premium
of £400. However, the worst part is that
it could be avoided if those insured would
stop making fraudulent claims against
their car insurance.
A survey said that tens of thousands of
insureds say that they would lie to get a
payout from their car insurance. The
survey showed that 5% said that they would
lie until the pressure became too intense.
Although the Scots are better than the
rest of the UK, as they came in at 26%
willing to lie for a payout, it is sad to
show what a state the UK is in according
to the survey. One of the biggest things
they were willing to lie about was if
their car was stolen, and they had left
the keys in it, they would lie and say
they had not. Obviously if the car is
recovered, it is quite easy to tell that
the insured had been lying.
Car insurance fraud has been gradually
increasing over the years, with false
claims coming from those who are normally
law abiding citizens increasing the most.
They say that one of the biggest lies is
from rear end accidents, where they say
they have whiplash, etc. – which is very
hard to prove false in court. Then there
are those who leave out certain facts to
get money, thinking that they are not
actually committing fraud, when in fact
they are.
Car insurance fraud is a criminal offence,
and the government has set up a special
Insurance Fraud Bureau that will focus on
fraudulent car insurance claims, as well
as the increase in organized fraud. They
say that by trying to head off a
disturbing trend in the process they are
hoping to save those that are honest about
claims millions of dollars a year.
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