>We all know that motor insurance has skyrocketed over the years. Mr Tan Kin Lian has some very good advice posted in his blog.
Fraudulent accident claim – aggravated damages
It is fraudulent for a motorist to submit a claim for repair to a vehicle where the damages have been aggravated or created after the accident. For example, if the orginal damage is a scratch and the repairs are for a major dent, the claimant is committing a fraud, i.e. cheating.
Many vehicle owners may not be aware that they are a party to this fraud. They leave the car to their workshop and sign an authority for the workshop to make a claim on their behalf. Some workshop, that specialises in inflating the claim, will aggravated the damage or inflict additional damages to the vehicle, and will take a photograph of the damages, to submit to the insurance company.
The insurance claim officer may not investigate the claim and will accept the claim as submitted. They are unwilling to challenge the claim, even if they were asked by the policyholders.
This fraud has been rampant for several decades. Large sums are being paid for the inflated claims. This results in higher premiums being charged for motor insurance.
Many people have lodged reports to the Police on this fraudulent activities in past years. If the Police is serious about investigate the complaints and bring the culprits to court, this fraud can be contained. I hope that this action can be taken, to reduce the cost of motor insurance in Singapore.
Tan Kin Lian
Below, is a comment I posted, followed by his advice.
solo bear said…
Kin Lian, thanks for your expert advice. I would like to ask your opinion on this fraudulent claim issue.
If immediately, after an accident with another vehicle, can I take pictures of BOTH vehicles and then use these pictures to support my case, if a fraudulent inflated claim is made?
Would the insurance companies use my evidence, or would they just carry on with the fraudulent claims?
Would the pictures be of help, if I reported the fraudulent claims to the police?
Thanks in advance.
PS – I alwasy carry a high resolution camera-phone with me to capture high resolution images for this purpose – just in case. Touch wood anyway.
Tan Kin Lian said…
Your photos will certainly support your case for the claim to be rejected.
However, it is better for the Police to use this evidence to charge the claimaint/ workshop for cheating.
If this type of action is taken, it will be a deterent to prevent future repeat of the fraud.
Let’s take note of Mr Tan’s advice and do our part to stop fraudulent motor insurance claims.
