There have been several cases of auto insurance fraud cases with a similar pattern running through them. This common technique is that when they find themselves short of money to pay up on their car insurance, fraudsters are having their cars stolen. These thefts are engineered on purpose so that they can then claim theft insurance from their auto insurers. Local law enforcement authorities are of the opinion that tough economic times are to blame for this inability to pay auto insurance. The district attorney Michael Hayword opines that though auto insurance cases are not that uncommon, people are coming out with more creative methods of cheating on their auto insurance premiums.
It is not necessary that the people who commit this kind of crime are hardened criminals. The police feel that even normal individuals may resort to this kind of escape route if he is unable to pay his auto insurance premiums. There is yet another twist to this kind of scam. When it is time to renew their insurance policies, the client might not have the money to do so, so he stages an ‘accident’. These accidents are not serious- maybe a fender bender – but he will then claim accident insurance based on this. The customers may feel that what they are doing is not really criminal but that they just flirting with the law. But the truth of the matter is it is illegal to intentionally avoid paying premiums with such underhand means. All the client needs to do is to turn his car in if he cannot afford the payments.
Auto insurance authorities are pleading with people not to give in to temptation. They are going to get caught at some point and will then face prosecution because this is completely illegal. The auto insurance companies are wary and on their guard when they review cases following this pattern. Kern County has recently received 300,000 USD from the state insurance commissioner to fight auto insurance fraud cases.
