Car Insurance Fraud- Beware Before You Become a Victim!

However, the scams in the insurance industries do not end here. There are a whole lot of others that do not get the opportunity of making the headlines.

This article is aimed at educating the residents in the UAE about car insurance scams. It will make you aware of the things that can go wrong and what you must never do while buying your car insurance in UAE. Here is a checklist for you to go through for making sure you do not end up getting scammed. 

Entering Ghost Broking

This is one of the notorious kinds of insurance frauds, which has been going around across the globe, and now putting its evil claws in the Emirates too. The ghost brokers act to be genuine and professional insurance experts, pretending to be the middlemen between the drivers, insurance companies, and brokers. They fool the owners of the car by offering them the cheapest deal, the convenience of cash facility, or the fastest insurance policy. 

How does it go Haywire?

Let us see what are all happens under such scams.

“Cheapest” Insurance Deal in the Market

In general, the insurance companies do not come up with “season end sales”. Usually, if someone is offering you a plan, which is cheaper than the price involved in the plan, then there is surely a catch. The typical fraud here is that they take money from the customers; however, they never make payment to the insurance broker or company.

With no proof for payment passed to the insurance company or broker, your insurance plan may get downgraded to a TPL (Third-party Liability) plan only.

You need to check for: You must always ask the person concerned for an official payment receipt from the insurance company or the insurance broker, even if you buy it via a dealership. 

Changing the Value of Your Vehicle

The car insurance scams also include the cases of tampering with the value of your vehicle without informing you (sometimes including the tampering of the vehicle on the policy too) and hence, offering you a lower rate.

The shock hits you when it comes down to an entire loss and you get a lower amount in the claim than the value of your car.

You need to check for: You must always request the person concerned that your insurance policy is sent to you directly from the insurance company or the broke on your mail. 

The convenience of “Cash” Facility

There have been cases in the UAE where an insurance scammer duped people last year. These scammers pretend to be independent insurance experts or agents. They will visit you, collect your personal details as well as the details of your vehicle, and come back with insurance quotes the following day.

Trying to “make it easier”, they will ask you to make the payment to them in cash. The next day, they will send you a copy of your car insurance plan, and you will think you have a policy in hand.

However, after a few days, you will receive a notification from your insurance company that this so-called insurance agent has failed to make payment for the plan he or she has issued in your name. Only then will you realize the blunder you have ended up in.

In such cases, the comprehensive plan may get degraded to a simple Third-party Liability insurance plan if there is no payment proof from an official insurance company or broker. This way you may lose hundreds and thousands of your hard-earned money to such a fraud. 

Get to the DIY Method

It is always better to not allow some random person to represent you unless you come across an official or regularized insurance company or broker. If not, then stick to the DIY or Do it Yourself method.

In case you find the price on an insurance policy has been tampered by the individual who is selling you the policy by adding a mark to it, you should report it immediately as it illegal. 

Always request for a policy copy or document to be received from the insurance company or broker directly along with the insurance rate and vehicle value mentioned on it.

Never pay in cash to any independent insurance expert, representative, or agent. They may never pay your money to the insurance company. And until your policy has not been paid for, you won’t be able to make a claim. 

Always represent yourself while buying an insurance policy and do your own research.

Try to avoid making cash payments and request for an official payment receipt from the insurance company.

The fake insurance agent may cancel your policy without informing you and cashes the amount while you would be going around on the streets of the Emirates driving a car illegally without an insurance policy. 

In a Nutshell!

If you don’t want to end up in a scam with your car insurance in uae, beware of fraud agents who collect cash payments, offer cheap insurance quotes, forge driver details, and miss-sell insurance policy. Always buy your insurance carefully and only from regulated insurance companies and brokers.