A mother and daughter from California who are suspected to have connived to file a fraudulent claims report was arrested recently and are now facing charges in court. Mary Patino, 62 and her daughter Lisa Sedillo, 31 were arrested by police following inconsistencies in their statements with the circumstances in the place of the supposed accident.
edillo recently was involved in a car accident, where she was also suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. Police who arrived at the scene saw Sedillo a few meters from where the hit and run incident happened. This circumstance led them into believing that she was the one who was driving the car which is owned by her mother, when the accident occurred.
The insurance company was then promptly sent a police report of the collision. However a few days following the accident, Sedillo called up her insurer to tell them that there had been a mix-up in the police report and that she was not supposed to be the person named as the one driving the vehicle. She then proceeded to tell them that it was her mother who was behind the wheel of the car at that time, which was later on corroborated by Patino. However, the duo is suspected of lying to insurers just so that Sedillo could avoid paying for bills and expenses that resulted from the accident. Sedillo was found to have not been included in the auto coverage policy of her mom.
Usually, fraud cases cause premiums to rise sharply as insurers try to recover losses. Fortunately for the case of Sedillo and Patino, the latter’s insurance company and the police were able to prevent them from committing fraud by comparing notes and sharing information.
Nonetheless, fraud cases continue to rise as times get harder, forcing many people to resort to underhanded and illegal tactics. Sadly, it is the paying customers that suffer as they are made to put up with higher insurance charges.
However, there are a few things one can do to prevent unnecessary suffering caused by illicit activities perpetuated by fraudsters, such as researching insurance companies that you are eyeing and avoiding insurers who have been hit by a high number of fraudulent claims.
Hard hit insurance companies are relatively easy to spot since they normally charge high premium rates. On the other hand, research is known to really do wonders in weeding out expensive auto coverage and finding cheap insurance. And with the advent of Internet technology, it is relatively more easy and convenient now to look for good rates as you can check for quotes anytime and almost anywhere as long there is Internet connection.
