Most people don’t think about insurance fraud, yet it does exists and is a problem for insurance companies, as well as you and me. Last week, I introduced this topic by looking at car insurance fraud (see https://wiseinsurancegroup.com/car-insurance-fraud/) using two examples that were in the news. Here, I continue the theme by examining it by looking at fraudulent home insurance claims.
Last week was National Fire Prevention Week. While the number of structure fires is down by 10% from 2013, there were still over 1.3 million fires reported, or one every 65 seconds. Every 2 hours and 42 minutes, a person dies from a fire, which is up by 13.5% in 2013. There were over 3,200 fire deaths last year, of which, 3 out 5 may have been averted had there been a working smoke alarm in the home. Even where smoke alarms were present, 23% of all home fire deaths were attributed to smoke alarms that didn’t make a peep.
On August 12th, Justin and Kasia Purcell of Surprise, Arizona were away from their home and staying with relatives while awaiting the birth of a child. They received a call that night from a neighbor letting them know their home was on fire. They drove the 45 minutes home after that call and arrived to find firefighters putting out the flames to what had been their home. It was a total loss and no one knows what caused the blaze.
Subscribe to my newsletter by filling the form below.
A confirmation email will be sent to your mailbox: please read the instructions to complete the subscription.
