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Auto Insurance Fraud - how to know if you are a victim
Auto insurance fraud is dramatically on the increase. Non-profitsites like the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud report thatauto insurance fraud costs in the region of $12.3 billion ormore each year. What's more it is a very lucrative business forthe criminals.But how is this type of fraud generally perpetrated and how canyou tell if it has happened to you?Auto insurance fraud often comes in several guises the morecommon ones being these: STAGED ACCIDENTSAn accident is staged in which the drivers of two or morevehicles intentionally collide with you. Normally a driver willpull up in front of you by temporarily slamming on their brakesand their accomplice will run into the back of you.They then make it look like it was your fault. FAKE HELPERSScam Helpers will wave an innocent driver into traffic, but thenan accomplice will deliberately crash into the driver. Again theinnocent driver appears to be at fault. AUTO REPAIR SHOPSAuto insurance fraud is increasingly being committed by autorepair shops. They scam insurance companies in several ways.They may bill for work not actually performed on the car, theymay over quote on the work, charging more for it than theyshould, claim for property stolen from your vehicle thatactually did not exist in the first place or deliberately causefurther damage to your car for which they bill the insurancecompany. OTHER SCAMSSeveral other auto insurance scams have recently been reportedincluding:* Falsely reporting a car as stolen * Fake hit-and-run claims *Destroying a vehicle by setting it on fire Being aware of these scams and frauds can help you to avoidthem and ensure you are not considered to be part of the fraudby the insurance company if they suspect a fraud has taken place.Trying to prove your innocence in some cases may be hard to do.Now you are aware of some of the more common auto insurancefrauds you know what to look out for and can potentially avoidthem.
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