AUTO INSURANCE ARTICLE

How Not to Fall to Fraudulent Auto Insurance Claims

By: AutoInsuranceGuy

One of the most common insurance fraud scams today is that involving fraudulent auto insurance claims. It has become really a source of worry, perhaps now the biggest fraud problem in the United States and elsewhere. Usually these claims involve staged auto accidents, faked injuries, and arson. Not only drivers like you are affected. Auto insurance representatives and companies are also not immune to tricks and fraud. In this article, we’re going to give you ideas on common auto insurance scams and how you can avoid being involved in any of them.

Swoop and squat. This scam involves two vehicles and a third one driven by the unknowing victim. The "squat" vehicle’s driver maneuvers himself in front of the victim’s car. Meanwhile, the "swoop" vehicle’s driver positions himself ahead of the squat vehicle, cuts the vehicle off and speeds away. The driver of the squat vehicle, on cue, slams on his brakes and stops abruptly. Now, the victim is caught by surprise and for most cases, fails to step on the brakes on time, hitting the rear of the “squat” vehicle. With the swoop vehicle gone, the victim does not have enough evidence to convince the police that it was the swoop vehicle which caused the accident. The poor and hapless victim ends up paying for the damage and personal injury claims of the driver in the “squat” vehicle.

Side swipe. Typically, this happens at busy intersections with dual left hand turn lanes. The driver staging the accident moves his vehicle in the outer left turn lane. As the target victim's vehicle goes into the outer turn lane, it is side swiped by the accident scammer. This is no child’s play. The driver staging the accident has done enough homework to know that the intersection is often congested, thus drifting will likely to occur.

Panic stop. For this modus operandi, the criminal drives a full-packed old car. Positioning himself in front of the victim, one of his passengers acts as a look-out to identify a driver taking his eyes off the road, like one answering a mobile phone call, texting or switching radio stations. Once the potential victim is identified, the passenger then signals the driver to start the operation. The driver slams on the brakes, inducing an accident to occur. The unwitting victim’s pleas to the authorities that the criminal stopped abruptly for no reason at all will fall on deaf ears, as there is no proof to his case. Meantime, the victim will have no choice but to pay for the damage and injury claims of the perpetrator.

Now that you know these, be a careful motorist. Maintaining your car at a fair distance from the one ahead of you is the only one way to avoid from falling into these scams. If only drivers faithfully follow speed and distance rules, accidents, whether staged or the real ones, would be avoided. Do you often find yourself tailgating the vehicle ahead of you? You should know better by now. Be a law-abiding driver and your chances of being victimized by these scams will be less than likely. Protect yourself from auto insurance fraud. Be a smarter driver in 2009.