Increasing fraud becomes the reason why we pay more expensive annual premium rates

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is liaising with state government agencies, insurance companies, and law enforcement agencies in an attempt to produce coordinated strategies to reduce the amount of fraud as it affects the insurance industry. The current national situation is increasingly serious with several billion dollars a year being syphoned out of insurance companies by fraud. Because they are not charitable organizations, these insurance companies react by increasing the annual auto insurance premium rates for all. Before the fraud became serious, it was possible to find cheap auto insurance. Now all insurers are increasing their rates, we are all paying more.

This should not happen. The criminals who steal all this money should be behind bars but this does not happen as often as it should. Why is this? The answer comes from the dire state of individual state’s finances. It takes time and money to investigate all allegations of criminal wrongdoing. The more crime reported to the law enforcement agencies, the more investigators are required. So, to pay for this when states are running a deficit, should we lay off teachers and close down some schools? It’s choices like this that mean most states cannot afford to recruit more police officers. When the insurers know there will be no investigation, why bother to report the suspected frauds? It’s easier to pay out and collect higher premiums from the rest of us.

For those citizens who want to protect themselves, here are a few hints. If you are involved in an accident, take pictures of the damage and of the people in the other vehicle. If they are claiming to be injured, call an ambulance. Call the police in any event. Should a tow truck stop and offer to take your vehicle to a garage for repair, refuse. If anyone suggests you should make a claim even though you are not injured, report them to the police. You can help preserve getting cheap auto insurance for honest citizens only if you actively protect yourself from becoming involved in a fraud.


Increasing fraud becomes the reason why we pay more expensive annual premium rates