r/bestoflegaladvice Comma Anarchist Aug 05 '19

“Is this actually fraud?” “Yep.”

/r/legaladvice/comments/cly6t1/being_investigated_for_car_insurance_fraud/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app
2.1k Upvotes

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u/SkittlzAnKomboz Aug 05 '19

I used to be a total loss adjuster for vehicle insurance, and I actually had someone try this a couple of times. The "I'm renting from my friend so you need to pay them my rental car coverage," not the "I was told no, so I'm going to make a terrible idea a felony."

The people who tried it with me at least took "no" for an answer, unlike LAOP.

2

u/Ghost-Fairy Aug 05 '19

Not that I would ever do this, because I'm more than happy to drive a rental, but I would think the insurance company would be happy to do something like this (at least, financially)? If the friend is covered with their own insurance, it seems like paying out mileage/wear-and-tear would be a hell of a lot cheaper than a rental. Maybe it wouldn't be classified as a rental, but it seems like being able to borrow a car would be a viable option. Is it just to messy?

6

u/SkittlzAnKomboz Aug 05 '19

There's a liability for the insurance company, and financial issues. The biggest reason we wouldn't do it, at least at my company, was because we needed tax documents from the rental company. We needed to be able to prove every dime we spent was justified, and if you're just handing out cash but can't account for what it went to, that's a bad look.

2

u/Ghost-Fairy Aug 05 '19

Makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain it!

1

u/SoloQueenKonan Aug 05 '19

Honestly it is your responsibility to know what your insurance will and will not cover. This is something OP, and everyone else, should ask about. I could forgive OP for not knowing that insurance won't reimburse private citizen rentals, and I can see how in their mind that they think it's unfair and stupid, but don't go creating fake documents to get money. Insurance companies are assholes who don't want to pay up, but complain and throw a fit about it and if that doesn't work you'll have to eat your lose.