My partner and I have been together just shy of two years (we’re both 25). This situation originally happened before we met. My partner allowed her ex fiancé (both were 22 at the time) to continue using her car following their breakup which resulted in her ex side swiping a salt truck which resulted in a dented passenger side door, ripped off fender and a severely damaged bumper. The repair quote was for $5,000. My partner’s ex begged her to not report to insurance because they didn’t have the funds to pay to repair the damage and at the time my partner was under her dad’s insurance. The ex has been promising to reimburse my partner for damages for around three years now. Fast forward her ex fiance is now married and undergoing a masters program and has said they’ll only cover half of the fund and only if my partner commits insurance fraud (I’m pretty sure it's fraud). The ex and their new spouse want my partner to report it to her new auto insurance and claim the vehicle was just recently side swiped while parked. They said that the worst that can happen is the claim gets denied. When I pointed out that rust was forming in the dents and in the off chance a fraud investigation is opened it will be pretty obvious that it's not new damage. I was told “you could just paint over it”.
Can someone please offer logical advice I can use to talk my partner out of committing fraud?
I would like to try and prevent an auto insurance fraud case. Looking for advice.
byu/TacitusCallahan inInsurance
Posted by TacitusCallahan
11 Comments
> rust was forming in the dents
Even the dullest insurance adjuster will notice that.
If your partner has to be *convinced* to not commit fraud, maybe time for a new partner.
The worst that could happen is being prosecuted for insurance fraud and having to reimburse the insurance company for every dime they spent proving the claim was fraudulent.
The next worst thing would be a report to the National Insurance Crime Bureau that will stick around for the rest of her life making it an expensive headache to ever get insurance again.
The next worst thing would be the policy is cancelled for misrepresentation.
The BEST thing that would happen would be the claim is denied with no further action. There is almost no chance this claim would be paid out as described.
Edit: and just to be clear, what you described would be fraud. It becomes fraud when a claim is filed with intentionally incorrect information.
Ask them if they are either so dumb to think this would be covered or so ethically challenged to attempt it and think they can get away with it. Pick one because that’s the only two options someone would even think about this for more than a nano second.
Does your partner realize this is fraud and would be easily caught and she doesn’t care, or has she actually been duped into thinking that somehow, this is a viable solution? Basically, she ok with committing fraud or is she just gullible?
The reality is she just needs to file the claim on her insurance and be honest. It is also possible that there could be a coverage denial if the ex was not a listed driver on the policy, as he had regular access to the car. If the claim is denied, as she has been making a bigger and bigger mess of this, she just needs to figure out how to pay for the damage out-of-pocket or keep driving it as is.
Lol
Sounds like a tactic to keep talking to the ex. Time to move on. The money is never coming.
I hope you have this crazy scene in writing. It is 100% insurance fraud. And a great way to get dropped or have your rates go up for years if you get lucky and have a blind insurance adjuster.
No way is that even a viable option. But small claims court is. Especially of you have him admitting guilt and asking to commit insurance fraud in writing.
OP I don’t know what state you live in but type in “State + ALPR” in Google. Chances are, over the last three years, that vehicle has been photographed by a mobile on a law enforcement vehicle, or a stationary plate readers, on a toll road, in a Home Depot parking lot, pretty much anywhere these days. So it would take about two minutes of searching for your insurance company to figure out that the damage that’s being claimed is old. And then, see /u/dorkbisexual for the next steps in the process.
Tell your man it’s done and dusted with the ex and you aren’t going to be a party to fraud. If he can’t do the legal right thing and is willing to risk being charged with fraud for this broad you have a bigger problem than the wreck.
Not only it’s it insurance fraud, but the insurance company could run social media inquiries and find this exact post. Don’t do it.
Why not just get 3 estimates and take him to small claims court? He’s already admitted to being responsible for the damage.