Like all other types of insurance premiums, car cover is on the rise and a large reason for this is the increase in insurance fraud. Fraud covers many things, including lying about your driving record to earn a discount right up to falsifying medical reports to claim for injuries supposedly received in a car accident. The US car insurance industry’s annual loss is about $100 billion, and the amount involved is growing by an estimated 9% every year. Since this money is paid out by the companies that insure us, we pay for all this fraud through the premiums.
Of course, if fraud fell, so would our premiums. There are police forces in every state who job it is to respond to specific complaints from insurance companies, and to run sting operations to catch the attorneys, medical staff and other key players who help the ordinary citizen make false claims. Despite massive underfunding, the police do try and investigate every alleged fraud case and so everyone that commits a crime of fraud runs the risk of being caught. The rewards for fooling the authorities are less than the risk of prosecution.
So, how can an honest driver prove they are not trying to cheat the system and deserve the low premium they are applying for? Well, it helps not to have a criminal record. If you pick up a speeding ticket, it might only cost you $75 in a fine, but it can cost you hundreds of dollars in increased premiums if your insurer believes you are a reckless driver. The moral of this story is not to speed.
Just as the authorities can find out about any criminal record you may have, they also have access to your past claims. The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) gives the insurance industry access to driver details and all insurance companies licensed to sell policies in the US send details of the claims they receive. CLUE stores this information for up to 7 years and it identifies each claimant by name, date of birth and the number on the policy held.
CLUE can report all available information about any cars involved in a reported accident, the types of injury to any persons or damage to the cars, and how much was paid out by the insurance company at the time of the claim. This information is available to the insurance industry in real time so when you apply for auto cover, CLUE verifies your name, age and address, and confirms your claims record over the last seven years. If it’s a good record, the insurers want your business and offer you a discount.
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