It is important that drivers are aware of the common motor insurance frauds that happen in Singapore since there have been reports of a same group of men creating road accidents and touting post accident "services" recently.
Motor insurance fraud commonly involves fake or excessive claims on vehicle damage or injuries after an accident. Fraudsters have also been known to mock up accidents, or exaggerate the claims of injuries to claim huge insurance payouts.
This article covers 10 common tactics used in motor insurance frauds that are used that you should be aware of.
1. Swerve and Brake
Fraudsters will deliberately swerve in front of your car and jam on the brakes, leaving you no reaction time to stop and crash into them. The vehicle will usually be filled with passengers and claim to be seriously injured from the collison.
2. Recommending a particular clinic to go to
Tricksters can appear suddenly after an accident and urge you to go to a particular clinic for a consultation. These clinics will make fake medical assessments. Remember that if you are injured, you should go to a hospital or if it is not serious, any clinic will do.
3. Inflated Medical Claims
Scammers will work with doctors or chiropractors in the game with them and commonly claim whiplash injuries that are not easy to detect on x-ray. Serious injuries will be assessed to trigger huge insurance payouts from insurance companies.
4. Phoney Witnesses
Phoney witnesses can appear and corroborate what the other scammer driver says against you.
5. Tow Trucks and Repair Workshop Fraud
Scammers have been known to lure unsuspecting victims to their workshops so they can do any of the following:
(a) Get referral fees
(b) Enable the workshop to quote inflated charges
(c) Diagnose unnecessary repairs to both your car and theirs
(d) Install counterfeit or used parts and charge the price of new parts
and many more.
Go with your intuition when you feel something is amiss. Keep a cool head if you get into an accident. In any case, if you think you are involved in a motor vehicle insurance scam, call the Singapore Police Force to make a report.
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