Home » What Is Insurance Fraud? Here are some examples: Please note Fraud also occurs when you provide false information to a agent or company such as insuring a vehicle you do not own. Not advising of Members in the Household, not giving the correct address for where the vehicle is garaged at. Uttering a forged instrument is a criminal offense. When a person knowingly publishes or puts into circulation any forged or altered financial document, legal document or other writing with the intent to misrepresent it as true and defraud others it amounts to uttering a forged instrument. To “utter” means to distribute or offer under the pretense that it is genuine. The uttering of a forged instrument is a separate and distinct offense from the making of it. The accused must not only know that the instrument was forged, but s/he must intend to defraud at the time of offering it.
Insurance fraud is a crime that occurs when someone tries to make money from insurance transactions through deception.
Here are some examples of insurance fraud:
Property Fraud – occurs when someone exaggerates the amount of damage incurred to their home, vehicle or other possession; deliberately damages their possessions for reimbursement by the insurance company; or seeks reimbursement for a lost or stolen item that was neither lost nor stolen.
Casualty Fraud – occurs when someone fakes or exaggerates an accident or injury to receive money from an insurance company. “Slip-and-fall” cases are an example of this.
Worker’s Compensation Fraud – occurs when an employee claims to have suffered an injury while on the job and either didn’t suffer an injury at all, or received the injury while doing something non-work-related. Employers can also commit worker’s compensation fraud by understating the number of employees or the type of work they do.
Insurance fraud is the second most costly white-collar crime in the U.S., behind tax evasion. (1)
Insurance fraud costs the average Virginia household $1,000 a year. (2)
Nationwide, insurance fraud robs us of nearly $80 billion a year. (3)
1 out of 6 Virginians claim they know someone who has received workers’ compensation for an injury that did not occur on the job. (4)
More than 1 of every 3 bodily-injury claims from car crashes involve fraud. (5)
Arson and suspected arson account for nearly 500,000 fires a year, or 1 of every 4 fires in the U.S. (6)
For more information, read the Insurance Fraud Brochure, the Vehicle Insurance Fraud Brochure or the Homeowner's Insurance Fraud Brochure.
Home » What You Can Do
Insurance fraud is a crime, and the Virginia State Police Insurance Fraud Program is working to stamp it out. Here’s how you can help:
- Be aware of staged accidents, such as intentional sideswiping or cars that cut in front of other vehicles, forcing collisions due to quick stops.
- Be aware of individuals that try to get you to leave the scene of an accident without calling police or obtaining a police report.
- Be aware of individuals that claim no previous injuries or continue unnecessary medical treatment which inflates medical benefits.
- Be aware of fraud rings that specialize in "slip and fall" schemes with fake injuries and faked claims.
- Be aware of individuals reporting fake burglary or theft claims.
- Be aware that some individuals report damage as vandalism in an attempt to cover deliberate or previous damage to one’s own property.
- Be aware of individuals making a false stolen vehicle claim to cover previous damage to a vehicle or to dispose of the vehicle.
- Be aware of individuals that fake an on-the-job injury or stay off work after healing to collect Workers’ Compensation benefits.
- Be aware of the possibility that someone may set a small fire in their home to obtain a new paint or remodeling job.
- Be aware that individuals may change a genuine claim to inflate the loss to recover past premiums.
- Be aware of individuals that inflate genuine claims to cover a policy deductible.
- Be aware of attempts to convince you that "everybody is getting rich" so you may as well try to get additional money also.
1, 2, 3 - Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, 2001; 4 - IFD Statewide Survey on Insurance Fraud by SIR, 2000; 5 - Insurance Research Council – 1996; 6 - National Fire Protection Association, 1998http://www.stampoutfraud.com/Home/News.aspx
