Avoiding Staged Auto Body Claims

Staged auto body accidents are increasing, endangering the lives and boosting the car insurance rates of innocent motorists who may unwittingly think they're at fault. Questionable claims from staged accidents increased 46.3 percent from the year 2007 through 2009, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, or NICB, a nonprofit agency in Des Plaines, IL, funded by 1,100 property and casualty insurance companies nationwide to fight auto insurance fraud and automobile theft. Here are some ideas from Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center in Maryville, Illinois based on facts from the NICB. If you've got an auto body accident in Maryville, Edwardsville, Troy, Collinsville, Glen Carbon, or Highland, Illinois, you will be glad that you were prepared with this important auto body repair information.

Auto insurance fraud added $4.8 billion to $6.8 billion to auto injury claim payments in 2007, according to the Insurance Research Council's November 2008 study "Fraud and Buildup in Auto Injury Insurance Claims: 2008 Edition." NICB investigations in Florida, New York, and California revealed sophisticated, multistate rings that included the staged accident participants as well as doctors, chiropractors, lawyers, and even auto body shop owners that benefited from the car insurance scam.

Multiple claims for one accident

One common element runs though the majority of staged accidents. The "victim" vehicle will contain 3 or 4 passengers who will file medical claims against the victim's auto insurance company along with a car damage claim. Stagers often target young women and older adult drivers as they enter or exit a shopping mall or parking garage. If you are talking on a cell phone or appear otherwise distracted while driving, you are a perfect mark.

There'll be someone sitting there at the curb and you pull up and they'll wave you on by. The next thing you know, you're getting blocked and then getting clobbered. Do not always assume that it was an accident; it may very well have been intentional.

Avoiding a staged accident

Here are six tips from Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center on how to avoid becoming a victim of a staged accident:

• Avoid tailgating. Recognize the "swoop and squat" situation in which a motorist suddenly swoops in front of you then slams on their brakes, and leave plenty of distance between you and the car in front of you in case the driver slams on his brakes.
• Call the cops even if damage is minimal. A Maryville, IL police report will make it more difficult for a stager to intentionally damage their car later to collect a bigger claim against your car insurance company.
• Grab a camera or use your cell phone to photograph everything and everybody at the scene. Pay extra attention to the number of people in the other car and the harm to both cars.
• Be wary of passers-by who just happen to arrive on the scene, especially if they offer to point you to a physician, lawyer, or tow-truck company. They may be part of the scheme.
• Avoid tow-truck drivers that you didn't summon. They are often part of this auto insurance con.
• Be wary of doctors who insist that you file a personal injury claim following an accident, particularly if you aren't hurt.

Although auto body fraud is a very real concern, lots of auto body accidents are nothing more than accidents. In either case, consider taking your car to Kurt's CARSTAR Collision Center, which serves the people of Maryville, Edwardsville, Troy, Collinsville, Glen Carbon, and Highland, Illinois.