The report issued by the ICBC was released yesterday. According to the release, frauds perpetrated on the insurer consist of totally fraudulent claims, exaggerated claims, and organized fraud such as staged crashes. The corporation released six of what they consider to be the top frauds committed last year and these incidents are entered into their “Hall of Shame.”
One man exaggerated his injuries after a car accident, claiming the pain he was suffering, from headaches to back pain, was so severe he was unable to help his wife with simple household chores like doing the dishes. However, investigators managed to take pictures of the severely injured man lifting heavy boxes at work. He was charged and convicted of fraud and fined $1,500. As he is not in jail, the ICBC speculates he is at home doing the dishes.
A woman claimed she was so severely injured she could not return to work. Investigators later determined she kept on working and received a pay cheque while also being paid benefits by the ICBC. She was convicted of fraud and fined $1,750. As well, the woman’s driver’s licence was a suspended for a year.
A B.C. mother told the ICBC her Audi was stolen from her parking space at work. The car was later found abandoned after it had crashed into a fence. Evidence was gathered that showed one of her sons was driving the car when it crashed. Mother and son were both charged with making false statements. The mother was fined $2,300 while her offspring was fined $1,150 and lost his licence for a year. The young man was also jailed for 90 days for driving while his licence was under suspension.
A man said while he was driving, another car veered into his lane and sideswiped his vehicle. He happily showed the video from his newly obtained dash cam as proof of what happened. However investigators learned from the video that someone else was driving the car while the man was in the passenger seat. The actual driver turned out not to have a licence. Not surprisingly, the man’s claim was denied.
Technology also sunk another man. He reported he went to bed at 11:30 p.m., then woke up at 2 a.m. to discover his BMW was missing. Keys to his car were not taken. Police later found the burned-out vehicle in a nearby park. What the owner did not know was the car had technology to determine the exact times the key fob is used. The fob had last been used at 12:18 a.m. Claim denied.
There was an accident between a bus and a fire truck. After all passengers left the bus, the driver went to the truck and exchanged information with the firefighters. When the driver returned to the bus, he was approached by a man who said he was injured in the collision and who later made a claim to the ICBC. But surveillance video showed he was never on or even near the bus at the time of the accident. He was convicted of fraud, fined, and spent a night in jail.
According to the ICBC, between 10 and 20 percent of all insurance claims are fraudulent. Every insured person pays more than $100 a year in premiums that go to cover these frauds.
In 2015, the ICBC investigated about 7,500 claims for fraud, and between 2010 and 2015, there were 550 insurance related fraud convictions in the province.
The ICBC wants everyone to know that the conviction rate of insurance fraud is 98 percent.
