Barbecuing a Beamer is one of the more dramatic types of suspected insurance fraud that's increasing in this economic downturn, the deepest in half a century. But it's not the only one. Suspicious personal injury slip-and-fall claims increased 60% in the first quarter; staged car accidents were up 34% and commercial property fire/arson cases jumped 76%.
Some consumers figure they've paid premiums year after year, experts said, and that their insurers might not closely check every single claim. In fact, investigators say they tend to be particularly busy during tough economic times when an increasing number of policyholders are caught in financial crunches.
"When the economy goes south, crime goes up," said Frank Scafidi, a crime bureau spokesman in Sacramento.
So those of you who planned on having your car be stolen, torched and abandoned may want to hold off until the stats dip in the second quarter.
Vehicle fraud cases heat up amid economic downturn [Los Angeles Times]
(Photo: emilybean)
Apparently it was decent hash, yes. Can't imagine why the police didn't either clean the car up of evidence or ask some serious questions to my my friend. I'm pretty sure the "hey, I stole this car, the hash was in here already" defense is a pretty standard one.
]]>People in the Bronx did this in the 70s, except that they did apartment buildings along with the cars.
]]>If you would like to join, (we have mean benefits) just stand in front of our door for three days without support, food or water while ignoring the abuse.
Also bring 50 buck funeral money, and some change of clothes, this job is a lifelong commitment.
A year ago I got a speeding ticket and the cop told me he's seen tons of roadsters on fire out in the desert. I never really liked the Z4 so I was kinda OK with it but a kitten dies anytime an M vehicle is torched.
]]>The funny thing is Huntsville is a white collar town doing pretty well economically so I doubt that its engineers dumping cars. Probably saps too dumb to figure out what they can and cannot afford. My husband is a software engineer and we only have ONE car, my Bonneville along with a 2008 Suzuki Boulevard motorcycle that he rides to work every day.
In most cases, I blame the saps, like the GI in the article who couldn't keep up with the payments on his Silverado. Don't buy it, if you can't afford it. Its that simple!
]]>The hole in the disk in the filling nozzle that prevents anything of greater diameter than the non-lead nozzle to be inserted limits the amount of combustible material that can be inserted at one time anyway.
]]>1. Brand new car was stolen (3 days off of the lot)
2. Policy holder and dealership said they only had two sets of keys.
3. Policy holder said keys were in the car
4. Claim was about to be paid...
5. Policy holder turned in two sets of keys.
We sent them to our fraud unit and discovered that they paid a friend to "steal" and burn the car.
Other than fraud, most stupidity is covered in most cases.
]]>I worked at a gas station, which, no lie, was adjoined by a Natural Gas Main and a High Voltage Swithcing Station, which had feeder lines which ran right above out UST vent pipes. I knew EXACTLY where our kill switch was.
]]>My roof has to be replaced after a hail storm. I can't see the damage, but after seeing half the houses on my street get new roofs, I asked my insurance company for an inspection. I certainly didn't trust any of the roofers knocking on my door.
Many roofers claim that they can pay the deductible (and sometimes rebate some back to me!!) They are all very open with this claim. It is also illegal.
]]>@CCS: For 6 months, I worked in a place in North Philadelphia that was like that...
]]>@Stefanie Faith Gray: It involves an 11'x11' shack in Montana, improvised explosives, life sentence in Federal pen...
Student loans will be the least of your worries...
]]>That's what gap insurance is for.
]]>@Kaellorian: More importantly, "trash is trash," be they white, black, hispanic, etc... Let's not label based upon race.
But if you want white trash to steal your car, it helps if you own a Trans Am.
]]>Just blow up the university and see what happens.
]]>@Froggmann: But he'll need a nickname, like Frank "the Big Tipper" Scafidi.
]]>@ARP: weren't there cases where the insurance company found owners negligent in leaving keys in their vehicles for them to be easily stolen, and refuse to pay?
]]>BTW Am I the only one who thinks Frank Scafidi is a perfect mobster name?
]]>They probably just used it as a toliet.
]]>I'm most people have seen cars on fire here or there. I once saw a car on fire next the pumps at a gas station. The fire department arrived soon after, so no "boom". I have to admit I was slightly disappointed.
]]>@Onion_Volcano: On-Star?Lo-jac? Bait cars?
]]>While environmentally disasterous, sinking a car in a body of water is a better way to total it out especially with todays digital electronics. There have been various articles over the years about certain water areas of the metro NY region that got piled up with cars along with abondoned quarries in the SE USA serving the same purpose. The authorities typically go through and clean these out once every few years. One friend in Alabama related how he saw US Army cargo choppers being used to clear a quarry in the Huntsville AL region of abandoned cars.
There is a certain state highway around Nashville,TN that is far from fire services that seems to get alot of burnt out cars on it along with thrown out auto fuel tanks (illegal for businesses to send cars to junk yards with the tanks). When the car is completely burnt down you know it is probably a theft or arson deal- if just the front end/motor is burnt out then it is a mechanical problem. The state is putting in lights and other services on that highway so I imagine that ccvc monitoring cams are not far off...
]]>In Miami people are dumping their cars in to lakes or rock pits all the time. If you do it in a deserted location, it might go years before anyone finds it.
Better yet, most stolen cars in Miami end up on a boat to an Island or South America; nobody is ever going to get that car back.
Take a trip to Miami and get rid of that car at the same time; just don't buy the return flight ahead of time - it might raise eyebrows.
]]>@Onion_Volcano: Ha, I actually thought of doing that once a long while ago... but the sad reality is that I don't trust people here in Detroit to even steal and chop a car correctly! They'd probably just joyride it, run in to things (not hard enough to total it), and leave it full of garbage, only so that the police can recover it 2 weeks later from the Detroit River, and your insurance company assures you that they'll have your car all fixed up for ya! Just as soon as you pay the 500 dollar deductible! Done ranting now.
]]>Remember to *lock* the keys inside the car.
If the car is "found" with no damage to it (eg: broken window), you might not get your claim processed.
]]>The problem with leaving your car to be stolen is that it might actually be recovered, in which case, not only do you get the unwanted car back, but it might contain a bag of hash, 30 frozen steaks and aids-tainted blood and vomit (happened to a friend). At least you can bbq the steaks and eat them later.
]]>@Ronin-Democrat: You risk them taking the car for a hoonage ride and leaving it in the ditch. Now you still have a car and you have all the towing fees to get it out. Your insurance may or may not "total" the car.
]]>Wow. Thanks Comsumerist for the great idea. Goodbye car loan goodbye.
]]>@Onion_Volcano: That's what I was thinking. There used to be an area on the west side of Chicago that was well known for that. Of course, the problem is that if the car isn't stolen and simply chopped up in the street, you'll have to pay for the car and the parking tickets.
]]>it seems it would be easier to leave it somewhere with a second set of keys on the ground. a poor white trash 'hood seems appealing.
]]>