Who are the guilty parties?

Who's Guilty

While waiting for a train the other day in Connolly Station I read a poster which said Insurance fraud is a crime and it gave detail where to report it.  My question is who are the guilty parties? Here is a story of a real experience of a situation where a motorcyclist came off his motorbike in front of a unmarked Company van.  When the van driver got out to see if the motorcyclist was O.K the motorcyclist proceeded to claim that the van driver had been the cause of the accident and then within minutes asked for €200 damages on the spot.  Of course the van driver disputed the fact as he had been in a stopped position in traffic and he also had a witness in the passenger seat to support this.

After some discussion between both parties they departed without agreement.  The motorcyclist later reported the accident to the police and then some days later registered in an Emergency and Accident department of a hospital but never stayed to be seen by medical staff.  His next step was to contact a solicitor on a no fee no win basis- are you getting the picture?

The Company owners of the van were then contacted some months later and a file was prepared with all statements and details related to the incident.  The insurance company was informed that it was strongly believed this was a fraudulent claim.  They were asked to investigate and run a check to see if the motorcyclist had any other previous claims of this nature.  Over time several discussions took place between the Company who owned the van (the insured) outlining serious issues in the claimants file and the claims made.

The next stage in this saga was the Company received an insurance renewal invoice for double the previous year’s insurance premium.  When this was questioned they were informed it was because the Insurance Company had settled the case in question and paid out a considerable amount to the motorcyclist.  When asked for an explanation as to why they settled the case without any involvement of the insured the following reason was given, they had reviewed the case with their own solicitor and decided to settle as it could cost more to fight the case, so it was easier just to settle.  When asked what about the fraudulent nature and had this been investigated?  The answer was no.

Insurance Company solicitor gets paid, the claimant and his solicitor gets paid the Insurance Company gets paid with a higher premium going forward and you lose your no claims bonus and get the bill

So if  insurance fraud is a crime, who are the criminals in this story?  – You decide – I would agreed with the poster but I think they could add Insurance fraud is a crime but don’t worry because we don’t!