You should alert your insurer promptly if you suspect the other party’s claim to be dubious or inflated. Be prepared to provide your insurer with supporting information and evidence that corroborate your suspicion.
Your insurer will look at the available evidence and decide if the claim can be contested. If your insurer concludes that there is enough evidence to support your suspicion, it will challenge the claim.
The general insurance industry, through the GIA, continues to find ways to address the problem of spurious claims. The GIA has introduced the GIA Insurance Fraud Tip-off (GIFT) scheme which rewards individuals up to S$10,000 - based on the equivalent value of the fraudulent claim - for reporting insurance fraud cases that lead to successful prosecution and conviction of offenders. If there is more than one informant for a case, the panel of investigators will decide on the reward allocation to each informant.
The GIFT reward scheme builds on the success of the GIA Fraud Management System (FMS) which employs data analytics and artificial intelligence to detect fraud cases for motor and travel insurance.
Individual insurance companies have also set up their own special investigative units to detect and deter insurance fraud.
Members of the public who have been approached to participate in insurance fraud - such as by making false or inflated claims, or have first-hand information and relevant and specific evidence about others carrying out insurance fraud - can do your part by submitting reports online at: https://gia.org.sg/consumers/contact-us.html
After a report is received, GIA will review the information and evidence provided. If the report has enough evidence to make out a case, GIA will send the details to the affected insurers() to investigate, and co-ordinate cases involving more than 1 insurer. If the insurer(s) conclude that there is strong suspicion or evidence of fraud, they will report the case to the law enforcement agencies. The law enforcement agencies will investigate and prosecute the suspect where evidence has been made out.
Motor insurance fraud involves conspiring to make false or exaggerated claims involving property damage or personal injuries as a result of an accident. Some common examples include staged accidents, where fraudsters deliberately “arrange” for accidents to occur; the use of phantom passengers where persons not even at the scene of the accident claimed to have suffered grievous injury, and making false personal injury claims where personal injuries are grossly exaggerated.
Motorists are advised not to inadvertently be enticed by the “promise” of monetary rewards by participating in such fraudulent motor accident claims. Insurance companies will strenuously investigate any suspicious motor accident claims and will not hesitate to escalate the matter to the Police.
Please see newspaper clippings of cases which have been brought to justice.
In-vehicle cameras can act as 'witnesses' in case of disputes in motor accident claims.
In the event of an accident, video recordings often provide clear and objective evidence of circumstances leading to the accident, and can assist insurers to understand how the accident took place. In many cases, the settlement of insurance claims can be expedited when liability can be clearly determined from the recording. Furthermore, claims costs are likely to be minimised without the need for a lengthy investigation.
More importantly, with timely and accurate information plus recording of the event, the opportunity for filing exaggerated and fraudulent claims is also minimised.
Vehicle owners are strongly encouraged to install in-vehicle cameras.
Please inform the insurer of the vehicle which you are driving at the point of accident upon knowledge of any impending prosecution, inquest, fatal inquiry or offer of composition. Failure to do so may lead to insurer’s repudiation of liability under the motor policy.