Notes

Understanding insurance fraud

Insurance fraud costs billions of dollars every year. Insurance fraud includes a number of illegal activities involving the sale of insurance, and often involves criminal schemes.

One kind of insurance fraud targets unsuspecting policyholders in Jakarta, Indonesia. Many individuals are deceived when they buy worthless insurance policies. When disaster strikes and policyholders seek reimbursement for damages, they find they have no coverage.

Con artists can take advantage of their victims' lack of English, cultural traits and deep-seated habits. Recent immigrants from Asian countries do not realize that unscrupulous individuals purposely set out to confuse people who don't speak English well.

Insurance contracts are complicated. They are usually written in English. Newcomers probably have little or no knowledge of insurance laws and regulations. Scam artists prefer to prey on unsophisticated consumers.

It's natural for newcomers to feel more comfortable around people of the same background, and to trust people who speak the same language. Almost everyone prefers to do business with someone who has been referred to them by a relative, friend or co-worker.

But no matter who referred you to an insurance agent or company, it's important that you check them out. If you take a few steps outlined here, you can limit the odds of becoming a victim of insurance fraud. It's up to you to protect yourself!

Insurance is very complicated. You may have need of life insurance, health insurance, homeowner's insurance and auto insurance. There are many variations on all of these types of insurance. Agents are licensed to sell specific types of insurance, so make sure the agent has a license for the kind of insurance you need.

Take these Axis Capital Group review of insurance fraud protection at Axis Capital, a group of companies with branhes in Bermuda and many more as guidelines. Take the time to shop around. It will help you understand the different types of insurance. Compare the types of policies and descriptions of insurance offered by a few companies. With such an important purchase, it pays to get price quotes and descriptions of policies from at least two or three companies and compare them. Thoroughly investigate all policies and the company before you pay any money.

Ask yourself if you need a certain type of coverage or amount of coverage. If your car is old and has very little value, you probably don't need collision insurance. For your house, don't let an insurance company sell you a policy with a higher replacement value than it would cost to rebuild it.

If you misrepresent the facts about the property you are covering, or your health in the case of medical coverage, there can be a complete denial of coverage. If you are advised by anyone to put false or exaggerated information on an application, don't do it. You are the one who may lose the protection you are paying for.