Auto insurance scams are not localized to any particular region. These scams are growing in popularity all over the United States of America. There is not a big city or small town that has not seen some sort of auto insurance scam being played out within its borders.
Scams of this sort have been around for ages. The first recorded insurance scams date back to ancient Greece where ships were scuttled and made to sink on purpose. Insurance scams are being practiced all over the world these days. Examples of such scams could include health insurance scams where people who are already seriously sick will take up health insurance. Or it could be life insurance scams where the policy holder is killed by his or her near and dear ones for the sake of money. Even valuable art or property is insured and then said to be lost in order to lay a claim for reimbursement.
In fact there are organized crime rings that specialize in auto insurance scams these days. And there are a number of methods that they employ to conduct such scams. We shall now explore the different techniques employed by auto insurance scammers.
The most common technique that is followed is staged rear end car accidents. In this type of scam, the offender will usually pull up in front of you and suddenly slam on his brakes. This way your car will plough into the back side of the other car and make it look like you were at fault. Since you are able to see up ahead, it is more or less an open and shut case, unless, there are witnesses or cameras which record the event. This is one of the reasons that you are always advised to maintain a minimum distance of a car or two with the vehicle in front of you. This way you will have sufficient time to react to the behavior of the driver ahead of you.
The other technique is adding damages to the car after the accident. This is practiced by most drivers, even when it is a real accident. If they are not happy with their car, they will go out and damage it extensively after the accident with you. This way they can claim a lot more amount from your insurance company without having to pay for the premium on their own. The best way to prevent this is to file a complaint as soon as you meet with an accident. This way the police will record the extent of damage and any other claims that the other party puts forth will come under scrutiny by the insurance company.
There are also a lot of instances when fake helpers have come into the seen of the accident. They will act as if they want to help you out and will try to give you contact details of doctors or lawyers or body shop owners. The thing is that all these people may be in on the scam. And each time you go to these people, they will in collusion swindle you of your insurance money. Doctors can ask you to conduct tests or procedures that are not really required. Lawyers could lead you through a painstakingly long litigation and then finally concede defeat. And mechanics can charge you obscenely large sums of money for routine procedures.
