I know what you’re thinking. Tell me everything! Patience, now. Fraud is a difficult subject, and it is one that you have to be very sensitive to when you want to stay above the water in car insurance. You might think that it doesn’t affect you directly, but some kinds of fraud can end up with you implicated as an accomplice to the crime, even if you never had a hand in any of it. Even if you do end up being proved innocent, the court costs are phenomenal, and it’s just another good reason to keep aware of fraud.

So how can you protect yourself from fraud? The first step is to

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

This will help you if you are involved in repair shop fraud, for one. The way that this kind of fraud happens is when repair shops report the details of what about your car needs to be fixed incorrectly, so that they end up being paid more for repairs that they didn’t do or being paid too much for repairs that they did do. Documenting isn’t the only way to stay on top of this. You should shop around for a repair shop if given the option, and thoroughly discuss the problems with your vehicle with the repair shop so that it is clear what is getting fixed, why, and what is being charged from the beginning.

Another example of fraud where documentation comes in hand is when someone else instigates an accident with you on purpose. Keep track of their story at the time of the accident, in case it changes later. Take pictures of the vehicles, so that they can’t claim bogus repairs. Make sure you get a police report. Or avoid it all by practicing defensive driving.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.