Report the Claiming Insurance Fraudsters . . . to the Fraudsters Selling Insurance!!!

Leper

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My neighbour in her late 60's drives a small motorbike (Honda 50) for years. The bike is serviced fairly often and kept well and is used for the occasional two mile journey into the city. The owner even does no right turns. She is harmless.

Her garage was broken into recently and the motorbike was stolen. The robber was caught red-handed by the Gardaí minutes after taking the bike and leaving the scene. He had broke some mechanism to get the bike started.

My neighbour reported the damage to the insurance company and although comprehensively insured she was informed the first €140.00 damage was to be paid by her. The bike could be started so the insurance people would not provide a collection service for the bike. I brought the motorbike to the garage in my van for quote and repair. The repair would cost €400.00.

Again my neighbour contacted the motor insurance company and was advised they would cover the amount over €140.00 only (€260.00). But, her no claims bonus would be affected over some years to come and before her insurance amount would be around equal to what she is now paying she would pay more than €900.00 over the odds.

The Result:- My neighbour paid the garage the entire amount and common sense dictated that she should not claim through her insurer.

Questions:- (a) What is the point in her paying for insurance? (b) Are motor insurers official legalised scam masters?

I saw a billboard sign recently paid for by a motor insurance company asking the public to report fraudsters i.e. do their job for them.

What is the difference here between a Fraudster and the Insurance Companies? Both seem to be screwing the innocent customer. Next time I see a billboard advertisement against Fraudsters, I think, I'll attach my contact details so that I can be of help to the fraudster.
 
Now, now Leper:rolleyes:

Some companies do not adjust NCB for theft. Did your neighbour not explore making the full claim off her existing insurer but then switching to an insurer who would ignore the theft?
 
Hi Duke, I reckon that she never heard of such claiming and changing. Neither did I. She just paid up and shut up.
 
So the 'fraud' amounts to insurance company A not advising the customer that she could go to insurance company B and not lose her NCB. Unfortunately that type of 'fraud' is endemic in our economic system - companies do not advise of better deals elsewhere.
 
Questions:- (a) What is the point in her paying for insurance? (b) Are motor insurers official legalised scam masters?

(a) So that third party liability is covered, such as if she mows somebody down, (b) no, but don't imagine that your insurance will cover your losses. It generally won't.
 
I am much more inclined of Lepers view that insurance companies have an element of the scam about them.

You pay your premiums but you never know if you are covered until you have to make a claim. Travel and illness insurance seem to be particularly prone to claims being unexpectedly denied.

There is also the scam of selling insurance to cover risks that should not be insured. You should only insure against a risk that you cannot afford to cover yourself, yet many insurance products are offered to cover minor losses.
 
What gets me is that Insurance companies will do all they can to avoid paying small claims but will roll over when it's a big claim and they might have to go to court.
 
It is an outright legalised scam.

The purported reason for buying an insurance policy is to ensure you are no worse off after an insurable loss or event than you were beforehand. That'd be nice but it never happens. The insurer only cover some of your loss and they are then free to recover their losses from you! An extreme case of the gambling saying that the "house always wins"
 
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