Toronto, Ontario — March 17, 2014 — The majority of Canadians believe honesty is truly the best policy when it comes to reporting an insurance scam according to a recent survey about insurance fraud.
The survey, commissioned by InsuranceHotline.com and conducted by Leger, polled more than 1,500 Canadians about their opinions on the varying degrees of insurance fraud.
“It’s encouraging that Canadians are honest when it comes to insurance claims and fraud,” says Anne Marie Thomas, Business Development Manager, InsuranceHotline.com. “Especially since we all know false insurance claims make our rates go up.”
Interestingly, Canadians do not like reporting insurance fraud when it is someone they know. In fact, only one quarter of Canadians would report a neighbour who exaggerated the items lost during a robbery.
For the most part, Canadians say they are truthful when it comes to making claims on car, home or travel insurance. The survey found:
- Only 12 percent of Canadians said they would claim unrelated damage from an auto accident
- Only 11 percent would exaggerate what was stolen from their vehicle
- Only 13 percent would inflate the value of items lost if their luggage was stolen while on vacation
“Insurance fraud is a serious problem across Canada,” says Thomas, noting that insurance policyholders pay more than $1-billion a year. “Depending how much a consumer currently pays, 15 percent is a lot of money to dedicate solely to fraud.”
Consumers can fight against insurance fraud by reporting any activity they suspect as fraudulent to the Insurance Bureau of Canada or the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.
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