Insurance fraud makes it more difficult for honest individuals to pursue their claims.
Earlier this month, the California Department of Insurance announced the arrest of more than two dozen individuals who had been faking automobile accidents in order to scam at least four insurance providers out of tens of thousands of dollars each.
According to detectives, the suspects allegedly submitted 26 fraudulent insurance claims and collected a total of over $140,000. Rather than using this money to repair their damaged vehicles, the perpetrators simply pocketed the cash. This allowed them to continue to use the damaged vehicles in additional claims.
In many cases, the suspects did not even stage an accident at all. Instead, they invented accidents that only occurred on paper and/or intentionally damaged their vehicles to create the basis for a fraudulent claim. The individuals are also facing charges for identity theft for using stolen personal information in their accident claims.
Has Your Car Accident Injury Claim Been Questioned?
Considering that auto insurance fraud costs the insurance industry billions of dollars every year, it is no surprise that insurance providers are always on the lookout for possible red flags that could signal a fraudulent claim.
Some examples of red flags include:
- Hit and run collisions—especially if there is no evidence of another car having been at the scene
- Recent coverage upgrades—having an accident right after upgrading to comprehensive coverage may not be a coincidence
- Difficulty reaching claimant—when the person making the claim is hard to reach, insurance providers have to wonder if they really live at the address on the policy or have access to the phone number listed for the account
- Soft tissue injuries—because soft tissue injuries like whiplash do not show up on X-rays, they are easy to fake as part of a fraud
- Failure to call the police—though the police may not come to take a report on every accident, they should still be called
If your car accident injury claim involves any of these red flags, you may very well find yourself under very close scrutiny by the insurance company. In order to protect your ability to seek full and fair compensation for your injuries and damages, you need an experienced car accident injury attorney like Fernando D. Vargas on your side.
Attorney Vargas can help you document your accident and your injuries in such a way as to create the most compelling evidence possible for your claim. He will negotiate aggressively with the insurance companies to help you get a fair settlement offer, or else take your claim to court if needed.
For a free initial case evaluation, please call us at 909-982-0707.
