Fraudulent personal injury insurance claims are crimes and they should be punished.
When you work as a personal injury attorney, you’ll have all sorts of people coming to you with different injuries caused by various factors. As a lawyer, it’s your responsibility to help this person if you decide to take the case. But while there are hard situations where someone truly ends up having a severe injury because of someone else, other people take advantage of the situation. They fake their injuries, making them seem more severe or life-threatening than they are, trying to get more compensation or put the accused one through more hardship.
Since you have to help the injured person, it’s important to know how to spot a fraudulent personal injury claim. Here’s what you need to know regarding this matter.
- There Are Different Types of Insurance Fraud
When it comes to fraudulent personal injury insurance claims, there are two different types: soft insurance fraud and hard insurance fraud. The soft one happens when the claimant exaggerates the severity of the injury in an attempt to get more money out of the case. It’s the most common insurance fraud type. Meanwhile, the hard one occurs when someone invents something in order to demand insurance. The person might go as far as to cause their own injury intentionally to make an insurance claim.
- Asking for Evidence is Necessary
People who make fraudulent injury claims know exactly how to do it. They research things ahead of time to make everything look believable. While you may not be able to instantly detect that a personal injury insurance claim is fraudulent, there are some red flags that may indicate something is wrong.
Discrepancies in the scene details, a history of claiming personal injury insurance, late evidence submissions, willingness to accept early settlements, flattery, aggression, or money issues might be some aspects to consider. Of course, some of these might still happen during genuine claims, but when you notice any of these signs, you should always ask for more evidence.
- The Claimant Will Be Liable to the Insurance Company
If the claimant is discovered for making a fraudulent claim, then they will be liable to the insurance company. The company might either deny the claim or cancel the insurance coverage. In some cases, they might also revoke the settlement or lawsuit award, in which case they will ask to get the money back.
- There are Criminal Consequences
Obviously, the claimant might face some criminal issues as well since making a fraudulent insurance claim is a crime. Most of the time, the claims are misdemeanors, which apply if you inflated the claim exaggerating the severity of your injuries. The consequence for this might be probation, a fine, or going to jail for several months.
Felony fraudulent insurance claims are those that result in destroying property, such as staging a car collision to ask for insurance. This might result in either a fine or the claimant going to jail.
Final Thoughts
Fraudulent personal injury insurance claims are crimes and they should be punished. If you’re a personal injury lawyer, make sure you take every step to find out if a claim is genuine or fraudulent.
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