Insurance fraud is a trivial offense! What do you pay your insurance premiums for? This thought cherished in 2017(!) according to a survey by Statist in cooperation with YouGov 15 percent of Germans. Of those, five percent said they had already cheated the insurance company once, and ten percent had thought about cheating. Respondents felt that insurance fraud worked easiest with liability insurance, followed by homeowners insurance. Among the insurance objects, where the interviewees consider a fraud to be most justifiable, were entertainment and household electronics.
Business detectives get on the trail of the fraudsters
If insured persons obtain certain benefits from an insurance company under false pretenses or by manipulation, then this is insurance fraud. Interesting is the fact that this criminal act is a frequently occurring phenomenon. In some cases, it is so widespread that people specialize in it and commit insurance fraud professionally in order to earn a living. They are so adept at this that it is difficult to prove that they committed the offenses.
However, there are not only professional criminals, but sometimes also blameless average citizens get carried away with obtaining money from the insurance company under a false pretext. Anyone who suspects that such fraudulent actions or even acts are being carried out in their own environment, but does not know how to put a stop to them and prove them, has the option of contacting private detectives Vienna. Private detectives specialize in insurance fraud cases and know how to detect the trickery of fraudsters.
Insurance fraud: Anything but a trivial offense
The connoisseurs of the industry estimate that already each 10. Damage is not quite "astrein. The problem is that the majority of the population does not consider insurance fraud as a crime, but classifies it as a "trivial offense". This is how insurance companies explain that insurance fraud has developed into a kind of "popular sport".
It quickly happened due to a little carelessness: The recently acquired new smartphone crashes to the ground and there are a few scratches. Annoyed by the fact that these scratches are obvious, everyone knows that the insurance company will hardly cover the damage here. Some of those affected then decide to use a hammer in this case and unceremoniously ensure that the smartphone is a total loss. This is then reported to the insurance company with hope. Or car owners who have been involved in a traffic accident through no fault of their own demand that the garage repair damages themselves at the insurance company's expense, which are not actually related to the accident.
Detecting insurance fraud
Even though fraudulent acts to the detriment of insurance companies are, on the one hand, widespread and, on the other hand, entail enormous financial damages for the companies, the measures taken by them are small compared to the damages suffered. This is especially the case in the area of prevention, because often the prevention of insurance fraud is neglected or. not sufficiently taken care of. Insurance companies use the following approaches against fraudsters:
- Independent damage assessors are appointed
- Automatic fraud detection software is used
- Insurance detectives come into action
Cooperation with competent business detectives represents an enormous advantage when it comes to fraud. The reason is that the professionals of the detective agency have intensively studied the tricks and methods of the professional criminals. In this way, it is possible to develop ideal methods for uncovering a fraud case and gathering valid evidence to eventually convict the perpetrator. The central field of detectives is to investigate the claim in detail and to check possible inconsistencies. The goal of the investigators is to find out if the damage was actually incurred as the suspect stated or if there was a case of fraud. The professionals use the following methods:
- Research
- Observation
- Interview people who have witnessed the damage
Many detectives also cooperate with lawyers and criminalists to successfully carry out the investigative work. This provides the customer with several expertise bundled together. This approach allows detectives to uncover cases in the shortest time possible. If the insured can be proven to have committed fraud and is convicted by a final court decision, there is a possibility that the insured will be sued for damages and will also have to pay the costs of the detective.
The penalty for insurance fraud
Even though "insurance fraud" is not directly considered a criminal offense, the respective offenses related to it must be reported as such. Fraudulent acts in connection with insurance matters are considered both fraud and insurance abuse. The latter is especially the case if the insured object was intentionally damaged or destroyed in order to obtain monetary benefits from the insurer.
Insureds who are guilty of such fraud must expect serious consequences: both criminal and civil. If insurance fraud is proven, the policyholder must expect the following measures:
- The insurance company refuses to pay.
- There is a cancellation of the insurance.
- Requirement of reimbursement of costs, in case of financial damage incurred.
- Filing of a criminal complaint: More and more often this happens, regardless of the extent of the fraud.
If it should come to a legally valid conviction, then usually a fine is imposed. But in some cases even a prison sentence of five to 10 years threatens. Evidentiary material is advantageous so that the fraudster can be held accountable. Just to get this the use of detectives is recommended.