Manitoba Public Insurance’s annual list of top five frauds includes a fib disproven by a muddy online photo, a ‘hail claim’ withdrawn after experts disputed the origin of more than 200 dents and a crash caught on camera.
MPI chooses its top five frauds of the year based on how unusual the scheme is, how much money MPI saves and “investigative excellence.”
At the top of the list for 2017 is a $36,000 total loss claim that hinged on a vehicle’s supposed accidental slide into a ditch. The claim was withdrawn after investigators found a photo online of the vehicle off-roading at a rally, stuck and drowning in mud.
MPI also highlighted a hail claim with dents experts said appeared to have been caused by tools, a crash involving a novice driver who had said a supervising driver was present, until MPI staff spotted an ad in a foreign-language paper looking for one, and a claimant who was spotted lifting heavy weights while he claimed they were too hurt to work.
In another incident, MPI said a claim was filed by someone who claimed to have lent a vehicle to a friend who crashed into a cement pole while swerving to hit an animal. But footage from a security camera indicated there was no animal and no friend present, and that the vehicle was travelling at high speed at the time of the crash.
Suspicious claims are handled by MPI’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU). The efforts of this special unit resulted in claims savings last year of $6.2 million for Manitoba auto insurance rate payers. The SIU closed 2,560 investigations in 2017.
Anyone with information about auto insurance fraud is encouraged to call the Manitoba Public Insurance TIPS Line: 204-985-8477 or toll-free 1-877-985-8477. All calls are anonymous.
