Gigantic fine and eight years on the blacklist: car insurance fraud has serious consequences | Car

Auto insurance is the most frequently cheated and it often seems so easy: filing a false claim with the insurance company, ‘forgetting’ to report something, or answering a question incorrectly. But it can all have major consequences. Many drivers are tempted to use their insurance to claim damage caused by themselves.

“Suppose you drove a little too tight through a narrow bend in the parking garage,” says Menno Dijcks, car insurance expert at Independer. “Result: a scratch at the bottom of the right door. does not cover. Two months later, you are still bothered by that scratch and you decide to take out all-risk insurance with a new insurer. You do not say anything about the scratch when applying. After paying the premium for two months, you still submit a claim to to have the scratch repaired. The insurer pays: a nice savings of a few hundred euros.”

Until the fraud is exposed. Two-thirds of all insurance fraud detected was committed at the time of purchase. “The consequences of passing on incorrect information to the insurer can be very large,” says Dijcks. “First of all, every fraudster receives a standard fine of 532 euros. In addition, the costs incurred by the insurer to detect the fraud must also be paid. Unjustly paid claims must also be refunded. If part of the claim is justified, for example because you claim the old scratch at the same time as a dent that someone drove into your door, that must also be returned. So you lose a lot more money than if you had paid for the repair of the scratch yourself.”

Almost all major insurers have a fraud control coordinator who investigates possible cases of fraud. “We can investigate someone’s behavior,” says a spokesperson for insurance company Ditzo. “We can also collect information that may be important for taking out insurance, for example from the register of the RDW, the Chamber of Commerce, the Land Registry and the Internet, but we can also rely on information obtained from other persons such as tipsters or witnesses.”

​Although insurers must comply with applicable laws and regulations, such as the Personal Data Protection Act, they can observe or interview people, analyze accidents and check records. “We also use relevant information from the alert system for financial institutions and exchange information with other insurance companies,” said the spokesperson.

When a fraudster is caught, auto insurers almost always choose to cancel a fraudster’s insurance. In addition, the fraud is registered in the Central Information System (CIS). This is a database that all insurers can view. “Someone with a CIS registration as a fraudster will also be seen as unreliable by other insurers,” says Dijcks. “The chance of acceptance is therefore very small – not only for car insurance, but also for other policies. After all, insurers are only obliged to accept someone for basic health insurance. They may refuse all other applications.”

A CIS registration for fraud usually remains for eight years. Registrations for other reasons, such as a disqualification from driving, or a criminal record for a relatively minor or unrelated offense, are valid for five years. Those looking for a career within the banking and insurance sector can also be badly chased by falsely claiming car damage. Insurance fraud is also registered by the Insurance Crime Center of the Dutch Association of Insurers. Companies in the financial sector consult this center to see if an applicant’s name appears in it.

In the case of major fraud, for example claiming that a car has been stolen while it is simply in the garage, an insurer can file a report with the police. Then comes a whole criminal tail. Even applying for car insurance in your own name, while your child is pretty much the only one driving the car, can lead to a lot of trouble. Independer expert Menno Dijcks: ,,Of course the premium is much lower, because an older adult has built up more claim-free years on average than someone of 20 years old. But if it comes to light that the insured is not the regular driver, then this is also seen as fraud – with all the consequences that entails.”

Betting that an insurer will believe you later, when you say you accidentally made a simple mistake on a form, is false hope. “It is difficult to prove that you are accidentally committing fraud,” said Dijcks. ,,Anyone who applies for insurance through us, clicks a box at the end, in which you say that you have completed all questions completely and correctly. So it’s hard to get away with later claiming that it was by accident.”

If every insurer refuses you, but you absolutely have to hit the road with your car, you will end up with De Vereende. This company was set up together by insurers as a last option for those who have nowhere else to go. De Vereende insures practically every motorist. The downside: the premiums are three to four times higher than with a regular insurer. The premium must also be paid in one go for several months at the same time when taking out. In addition, this company requires that policyholders transfer an amount as deposit. They will only get this back if they have not submitted any claims at the end of their insurance term.