Don't Let Your Personal Injury Case Become Fraudulent
Filing a personal injury claim is stressful, and if you don't know what you're doing, you may actually end up making fraudulent claims without even meaning to. Learn the facts about fraud and how it affects your case, your life and the people around you. Don't let your honest, legitimate personal injury claim become fraudulent.
Hard Fraud
Hard fraud is the deliberate attempt to create a fraudulent personal injury case in the attempt to gain money. A common example of hard fraud is purposely hitting your breaks to cause a rear-end collision and make it look as if the other driver was responsible. Hard fraud may even involve staging the scene or fabricating evidence to make it look like someone else caused the accident. This type of fraud is less common, and as long as your personal injury claim is legitimate, you shouldn't have to worry about being accused of hard fraud.
Soft Fraud
Soft Fraud is more common than hard fraud because it is about opportunity not premeditated malice. Soft fraud happens when you exaggerate your injuries, the claim or any facts involved in the claim. For example, if you lost a piece of jewelry when an arsonist burned your home, but you claim it's worth more than its actual value, that's soft fraud. It's easy to exaggerate a little here and there, turning your case into a fraudulent one, which is why even if you have a legitimate personal injury case, you must make sure to only state the pure, honest facts.
How Fraud Is Determined
Insurance companies and lawyers are specialists in determining both hard and soft fraud. They start by reading the police reports and talking to witnesses to see if there are any holes, conflicting information or anything that just doesn't look right. They'll even request your medical charts to see if your doctor's notes and treatment meshes with the injuries you are claiming. Lastly, insurance companies and lawyers even watch your social media sites to see what you're doing. If you claim major injures but have pictures of your recent mountain climbing trek, that's a major red flag.
Consequences You'll Face
The least serious consequence you'll face is that your claim will be rejected and you won't receive any money, even if you have legitimate injuries. If you already won your lawsuit, you can be forced to repay the entire amount. However, the consequences don't end there. You'll also be subject to criminal punishment and charged with a misdemeanor or even a felony. The extent of the punishment depends on the extent of the fraud. Punishment usually involves a fine, and you may even be sentenced to jail time.
Other Consequences
The consequences of fraudulent claims don't end with you. They trickle down and affect other businesses. While these businesses may seem like faceless corporations, they do have real employees. When you file a fraudulent case, you take money away from the insurance company. To stay in business and provide jobs, the insurance company must raise premiums to counteract the lost money. These increased premiums affect everyone who shares that insurance. As a result of these higher premiums, business like grocery stores must raise prices, businesses lose money or they may even go out of business, costing people their jobs.
Don't succumb to soft fraud when filing your personal injury claim. You'll end up losing any chance of getting any money for your injuries and will face serious criminal consequences. If you have a personal injury claim to file, contact a personal injury lawyer from a site like http://www.hilbrich.com in your area today and start discussing the facts of your claim to get the money you deserve.
Share