Travel Insurance Scam
With the credit crunch hitting us even harder just as we unpack our suitcases, people are going through extreme measures to accumulate a little extra cash. Travel insurance scams have seen an 80% increase recently as the credit crunch develops with holiday makers claiming on items which have not even been stolen or claiming for more than the items actually worth. Some people have booked holidays but now cannot afford to go on them; you will lose your deposit if you can’t attend your holiday if pre-booked. So people are paying a visit to the doctor and pretending to be ill so they can obtain a sick note, they can then use this sick note to legally get a full refund from the holiday provider. It is extremely hard to determine a genuine claim as the foreign police are often uninterested in lost or stolen items such as cameras or ipods resulting in low prosecution rates for fraud abroad. With the number of claims increasing it has forced the insurance companies to act, they now look out for tell tale signs from a claimant and can determine a fraudulent claim much easier now than a genuine claim. They are however, reluctant to release these signs. If you have a claim rejected, it will be marked on your credit rating and will remain there for three to six years. This has also forced the insurance companies to bump up their premiums resulting in the honest genuine people paying more whilst the frauds claim the extra cash. You can still save money on travel insurance by shopping around and comparing quotes.