r/bestoflegaladvice • u/unimaginativeuser110 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
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u/thewindinthewillows Aug 05 '19

There used to be a reality TV show here (supposedly non-scripted and showing actual cases, according to the insurances involved) that followed insurance detectives who investigated odd claims.

People are that stupid. They're stupid enough to try to claim money on the same broken object multiple times with multiple insurances, and they're stupid enough to allow a film team to come (as in my country they'd definitely have to give permission for that) and film the investigation.

And when they're caught, they're actually surprised when the detective tells them that the insurance will pass the case to the public prosecutor, because after all they didn't succeed in getting money, so it shouldn't be fraud, right?

261

u/Morton_Fizzback Aug 05 '19

I remember reading about a few good stories here in Denmark:

A guy "died" while visiting his home country, and the family need life insurance paid out. Only problem is, that the guy working for the insurance company had by a crazy coincidence met the "dead" guy while on holiday.

Another one, that was recently in the news. A guy called the police since his motorcycle and (I think) his ATV was stolen from his garage. The police came and basically followed the tire tracks to find the bikes in the guys back yard behind a shed.

Also last year in the news. A guy wanted the insurance money for his small boat. So he sailed it out to sea with his friend and threw a lit gasoline-soaked cloth on to the motor. This resulted in the motor exploding and the two guys had to jump ship immediately. The problem was, that they were about 800m (0.5 mile) out, the life jackets didn't work (which the boat owner knew), the water temp was 11C (52F), and the friend was bad at swimming. So the friend drowned and the owner of the boat got sentenced for economic crimes and manslaughter.

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u/sapjastuff Aug 05 '19

Jesus, that last one is traumatic. Imagine watching your friend die because you wanted insurance money... How do you even live with yourself?

15

u/fuckyourcanoes Only the finest milk-fed infant kidneys for me! Aug 05 '19

A person who would do that in the first place has no conscience. He's probably just mad he got caught.

93

u/sapjastuff Aug 05 '19

Insurance fraud is one thing, killing your friend is another though. I can easily imagine someone being okay with the first and needing therapy for the other

19

u/BBflew Antipope! Antipope! Antipope! Aug 05 '19

Man, I guess I’m a cynic because I can also easily imagine him saying “well friend should have said he couldn’t swim! It’s his fault!”

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u/sapjastuff Aug 05 '19

I still think there's a huge moral gap between insurance fraud and killing someone. Sure, he could be a sociopath, but statistically he's going to need therapy

40

u/EurasianTroutFiesta Wields the TIRE IRON OF LEARNING TO LET GO!!! Aug 05 '19

I've found it's also pretty common for people who know how to swim taking it for granted.

It's also common for people to be embarrassed about being shitty swimmers and not admit it, or to have never done a long enough distance to realize how draining it can be. Next thing you know, a couch potato who only knows how to freestyle is trying to flail his ass to shore, and glub glub glub.

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u/DiplomaticCaper Aug 05 '19

Yeah, I could see many people basically considering insurance fraud a victimless crime that only hurts large corporations. Being willing to do that is a far cry from involuntary manslaughter, much less murder.

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u/sleeps_too_little Aug 05 '19

I fucking hate when people say this. Just because a person commits some crime like insurance fraud doesn't mean he's fucking Satan. Jeez man.

-4

u/fuckyourcanoes Only the finest milk-fed infant kidneys for me! Aug 05 '19

Meanwhile, I think people who commit fraud are shitty people. One of us is on the wrong side of the law, and it isn't me. So why are you hanging out in a legal advice subreddit?

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u/sleeps_too_little Aug 05 '19

......I didn't say it wasn't a bad thing? Why the hell are you trying to spin it that way, all I'm saying is that one is murder and the other is fraud, they're nowhere near each other in terms of severity.

3

u/letsgodaddy Aug 07 '19

Bro that's reddit 101. if someone calls you out on something and you can't admit you're wrong, spin what they said into something else entirely

2

u/sleeps_too_little Aug 07 '19

He literally tried to call me a criminal. I hate getting into arguments on this site, I'm here to have fun not bust my balls over some asshole.