Fibs often = insurance fraud

Have you ever trickled kindness into your words and glossed over life’s sour moments? Don’t lie, we’ve all done it. We’ve all called a choppy mistake of a haircut ‘edgy’ and ‘unique’ when what was needed was a, ‘Oh honey, you need to go back and get them to sort it out because in a few days, you’re going to cry’. The reality is that there are times when you need to be kind and not highlight an issue, like when your friend has to get there on his or her own and you can’t use truth like a hammer without breaking them in 2. But there are also times when pure honesty is the only way forward. The problem is that some of us don’t always know when to hold back and when to be bold.

A common place where we hold back and fib a little instead of choosing to go with facts is when we’re talking about anything to do with our cars. Specifically, when it’s got something to do with car insurance. Most of us (the non-fraudulent types) won’t lie about something big, like the address where we park our cars or smashing full-on into a pole. But the smaller scrapes and dents, or whether we park in the garage or on the curb outside the house? These are the things that fly under the radar when we’re talking to our insurers.

Insurance fraud comes in many shapes, ways and forms

We personally think that 1 of the reasons why South Africans dip into some form of insurance fraud or the other is because they tend to think of fraud as something that only makes its home among politicians, ministers, and CEOs. But that’s not the case and potentially because of this ability to consider smaller fibs as completely different to actual fraud, insurance fraud’s committed way more frequently than you’d think.

A quick explanation

You can’t plead ignorance when defending a case of fraudulent behaviour. We’re not experts on absolutely everything, but we’re pretty sure that you can’t plead ignorance as a defence for any legal matter. And make no mistake, insurance fraud’s a legal matter. You see, insurance fraud’s any act committed with the intent to obtain a fraudulent outcome from an insurance process.

Basically, if you attempt to gain any benefit from your insurance company that you aren’t entitled to, it’s considered fraud. Like wanting to get a slightly cheaper premium, so you tell your insurer that your car’s parked in your garage, which you then lock every night before you go beddy-byes. But the reality’s that you actually park it out in the open. To you, this is a little fib, because it’s still in the bounds of your property.

Truth: Even if it’s a seemingly small stretch of the truth, a lie is a lie and counts as a case of insurance fraud. And insurance fraud’s a serious offence.

Something you didn’t know about insurance fraud

It doesn’t take a genius to understand that fraud’s wrong, so it’s widely known that you shouldn’t lie to your insurer. What you might not know is that this fraud doesn’t only hurt you if you get found out, but could also impact everyone else because acts of insurance fraud result in increased claim costs for all of us, which typically lead to increased insurance premiums. So everyone pays a bit more because of the lies of others.

Honesty’s the best policy

It just doesn’t pay to lie. Not only could your little fib result in your policy being cancelled, but it could also lead to jail time because insurance fraud’s a criminal offence. A few of you may be worried about inadvertently telling a few white lies to your insurer, and while we don’t want you to live in fear, we do want to encourage you to call your insurer to check any dubious details.

The last thing we want is for your claim to be rejected, your policy to be cancelled, or for you to face any criminal charges.

Tips when talking to your insurer:

• Be truthful about all and any info that you supply to your insurance company.
• Don’t sugar coat any of the details, because this can be misleading.
• If you know of any 1 committing fraud then please report it to the authorities, because if you know that someone’s committing fraud and you don’t report it, you could be considered just as guilty as the perpetrator.

If you’re looking for insurance that helps you understand your cover, walks you through the quote process so that you don’t make any mistakes or leave any details out, and still ensures that your premiums are super cheap, then just click here for a commitment-free quote.