Kern County has seen a sharp rise in auto insurance fraud and this is due to the economic downturn state the local law enforcement agencies. Experts claim that auto insurance fraud is pushing up coverage costs, but criminals seem to be finding innovative ways to cheat auto insurance companies to claim the money.
Michael Hayward states that this is a bad crime and Kern County is seeing more of it these days. He is the deputy district attorney in Kern County and is involved in the prosecution of auto insurance fraud.
Although auto insurance fraud is not something new, there are more and more people who seem to be getting involved in auto insurance crime. These days even ordinary people are getting involved in these crimes, states Hayward.
There are a number of people who are finding it difficult to pay for auto insurance due to the economic crisis. Instead of giving their vehicles back, these people find someone to steal the car and then make a claim from the auto insurance company. In fact, these people have someone steal their cars from their homes, knowing fully well what may happen.
In other scenarios, Hayward states that people don’t make regular payments on their car insurance as the money is tight. This leads to a scam known as insurance lapse.
If their policies lapse and if they meet with an accident in the interim, they generally renew their policies and then wait for a couple of weeks before calling up their insurance company in order to report that they just got involved in an accident, added Hayward.
While some people may be under the impression that it is just a white lie, Hayward feels that it is very serious.
Hayward added that it was a major crime and in fact, it amounted to felony. The reason why it is considered to be a major crime is because no one knows who pays for what. There are a number of people who seem to have become desperate as they were facing tough times, and these people couldn’t figure any other way out.
He also hates it when even ordinary people start doing this – he gets heartbroken. So, he states that anyone who is even thinking of doing these things needs to be warned. He cautions people, saying that no one should try this even if they are desperate, as this could lead to problems that are much worse.
