Avoiding Staged Auto Body Claims

Staged auto body accidents are becoming increasingly popular, endangering the lives and boosting the auto insurance rates of innocent drivers who may unknowingly think they're at fault. Questionable claims from staged accidents increased 46.3 percent from 2007 through 2009, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, or NICB, a nonprofit agency in Des Plaines, Illinois, funded by 1,100 property and casualty insurance providers nationwide to fight auto insurance fraud and automobile theft. Here are some ideas from CARSTAR Arnold in Arnold, MO based on information from the NICB. If you have an auto body accident in Arnold, Oakville, Imperial, Festus, or St. Louis, MO, you will be glad that you were prepared with this important auto body repair info.

Auto insurance fraud added $4.8 billion to $6.8 billion to auto injury claim payments in 2007, based on 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 uncovered sophisticated, multistate rings that included the staged accident participants and doctors, chiropractors, lawyers, and even auto body shop owners that profited 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 three to four passengers who will file medical claims against the victim's auto insurance company in addition to a car damage claim. Stagers often target younger ladies and older adult drivers as they enter or exit a shopping mall or parking garage. If you're talking on a cell phone or appear otherwise distracted while driving, you're a perfect mark.

There'll be somebody 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 tricks from CARSTAR Arnold on how to avoid becoming a victim of a staged accident:

• Avoid tailgating. Recognize the "swoop and squat" scenario in which a motorist suddenly swoops in front of you then slams on his or her brakes, and leave plenty of distance between you and the car before you in case the driver slams on his brakes.
• Call the cops even if damage is minimal. An Arnold, Missouri 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 everyone at the scene. Pay extra attention to the number of people in the other vehicle and the harm to both vehicles.
• Be wary of passers-by who just happen to arrive on the scene, especially if they offer to point you to a doctor, attorney, or tow-truck company. They might be part of the scam.
• Steer clear of tow-truck drivers that you did not call. They are generally part of this car insurance scheme.
• Be wary of doctors who insist that you file a personal injury claim following an accident, especially if you aren't hurt.

Although auto body fraud is a very real concern, lots of auto body accidents aren't anything more than accidents. In either case, consider taking your vehicle to CARSTAR Arnold, which serves the people of Arnold, Oakville, Imperial, Festus, and St. Louis, MO.