Recent studies indicate that consumer’s attitude towards insurance fraud is “softening” – that is, more people find it morally acceptable to commit insurance fraud, particularly during a period of economic downturn.

In Canada, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) estimates that between 10% and 15% of all claims paid contain an element of fraud.

Premeditated fraud is often – but not always – the purview of organized crime involving arson, staged accidents, and “planned” burglaries.

But opportunistic fraud is much more common, occurring when a claimant inflates an otherwise legitimate loss.  (i.e. when the value of a missing item is exaggerated, or when non-insured items are included in a claim.)

However, the problem is particularly acute in personal injury claims, particularly those suffered in automobile accidents.  Statistics indicate 1 in 4 personal injury claims in Canada contain some element of fraud, and those on the front lines often assert that fraud is more extreme in the provinces that have the most generous injury support system – like Ontario.

How often have we heard that claimants need to recognize that claims fraud costs us all?  But professionals in the claims game must remember that most claims are legitimate, advanced by insureds who are honest.  Therefore, adjusters and brokers are called upon to approach every claim with empathy.

The balance is to recognize the reality of fraud, but not become jaded anticipating fraud where none exists.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 1:56 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.