Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) has released its annual list of top insurance fraud cases, as uncovered by its Special Investigation Unit (SIU).
A release from the provincial insurer said the SIU helped the company save $5.8 million by uncovering “hundreds” of fraudulent claims throughout the past year.
“This important work preventing insurance fraud helps keep insurance rates low for our valued customers,” the release said.
Listed below are SGI’s top five insurance fraud cases from 2022.
A customer reported his vehicle missing and filed a theft and collision claim with SGI. However, security footage showed that the subject vehicle travelled at a high rate of speed, lost control and collided with a parked vehicle and a tree. The footage showed a person matching the customer's description walking away from the vehicle and locking it with a fob.
The later customer confessed to causing the collision following a celebration and was on the hook for $50,000 in vehicle and property damage.
A customer submitted a claim stating that she drove her truck through a “dip with standing water,” which caused the engine to quit, requiring an expensive engine repair or replacement. However, SIU found that the vehicle’s odometer had somehow been rolled back, and that the customer had rolled back it back herself to show 150,000 fewer kilometres than what should have been on the engine, in order to increase the value of the truck.
She withdrew her claim after being confronted with the SIU findings, saving SGI $7,000.
A customer told SGI he and his girlfriend were travelling through foggy conditions when he missed a turnoff and hit an abandoned vehicle on the shoulder of the highway. Police visited the collision site and saw several concerning items inside the vehicle, including drug paraphernalia. Additionally, there was no evidence of fog that morning and no nearby turnoff that the driver could have missed.
SIU found the customer's account of the incident was unreliable and vague, and his claim was denied for misrepresentation, saving the insurer $40,000.
A customer filed a claim stating she hit a deer and left her vehicle at the roadside. SIU contacted a witness who saw two people remove belongings from the vehicle before the vehicle went up in flames a short time later. SIU discovered the vehicle was not registered at the time of the collision – and registration had been purchased by the customer less than an hour after the crash.
SIU believes the customer also returned to set the vehicle on fire in order to receive a payout. The claim was denied, saving SGI $5,000.
A customer filed a claim with SGI, stating she fell asleep while driving and collided with a parked vehicle. SIU discovered she had lied to her bank about being able to make her delinquent payments to avoid having the vehicle repossessed.
The SIU found that the customer caused the collision intentionally and saved SGI $63,000.
In last year’s list, SGI uncovered fraud cases that involved a supposed car theft with no receipts or financial information related to the vehicle, among other schemes.
The insurer said it saved $6 million by uncovering fraudulent claims from 2021.
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