People are creative when they try to get a few unearned kroner from the insurance company. According to the insurance industry, it is especially after a holiday trip, a burglary in the house or cabin that people take liberties. – Then there could be, for example, a lot of design goods that were included on that trip to the South, and it turns out that it is not correct after all. There is an increasing trend of digital fraud, says communications manager at Finans Noreg Forsikringsdrift, Stine Neverdal. Photo: Thomas Brun / NTB Kommunikasjon This is according to Stine Neverdal, head of communications at Finans Noreg Forsikringsdrift. Storebrand is also noticing the increasing fraud. Andreas Jacobsen is head of investigations in the company, and works to expose insurance fraud. He says that they are seeing more fraud attempts using digital methods, especially for household insurance. – You send in a picture taken from the internet, as an example that an injury should have occurred. We have found pictures online that are identical to what the customer has sent to us. For example, damaged TVs, where the screen is broken. Fraud using digital methods means that the fraudster sends in falsified documentation. This can be done by submitting a receipt or a photo that has been manipulated, or obtained using a program on the internet. A customer submitted this image. The insurance company found this video on YouTube, with the same still image illustrating a destroyed TV. It is when customers have to document what has been destroyed or what they have lost that they send in fake photos, says Jacobsen. He says the entire industry is experiencing attempts to defraud household and travel insurance. – Using incorrect documentation or falsifying documentation is serious. That undermined the trust that should exist between the insurance customer and the company. He says that as a company they are completely dependent on being able to trust the customers and trust that the documentation is correct. The customer sent this photo to the insurance company, who later found it online. Photo: STOREBRAND FORSIKRING / news It is the digital fraud that is increasing the most, says Neverdal in Finans Noreg forsikringdrift. So far this year, insurance fraud for NOK 230 million has been revealed, which is an increase from the same period last year. Last year ended up being a record year for insurance fraud, with NOK 491 million of fraud reported. More young fraudsters There are more men than women who defraud the company, and according to Finans Noreg forsikringdrift, the number of fraudsters under the age of 29 is increasing. – Fraud on the insurance means they are stealing from the community, says Neverdal in Finans Noreg insurance operations. The insurance company reports the cases and in the most serious cases people risk prison. Storebrand says they recently had a case where the customer was convicted of fraud in seven cases. The person involved is said to have tried to defraud several companies for close to NOK 100,000. The person concerned admitted the insurance fraud. People also try car insurance. Head of investigations at Gjensidige Forsikring Noreg, Vera Sønsthagen, says a customer reported a car being pulled out and colliding with a tree due to a deer. – We discovered that the car had damage in two places at the front and checked the control unit in the car. The owner of the car was convicted of driving the car into the tree on purpose. Photo: Gjendige/private They found that the car had stopped and then accelerated towards the collision, twice. In the judgment from Buskerud District Court, which news has seen, it is also stated that the owner lied and that he had no previous damage to the car. The person involved pleaded not guilty, and stood by his explanation. The customer was nevertheless convicted of insurance fraud in the Buskerud district court. – Insurance is a community where we all have to adhere to the same guidelines for what is and is not covered. It is therefore important for all our honest customers that we do what we can to prevent insurance fraud, but also that we uncover and solve insurance fraud, says Sønsthagen. – Animal time is the reason The insurance companies we have spoken to believe that poorer advice may be part of the reason why more people try their hand at insurance fraud. Vera Sønsthagen in Gjensidige forsikring believes that poor finances are the cause of the fraud. Photo: Gjensidige – We have long feared that the fact that there will be worse economic times for many private individuals means that more people take advantage of a real case of damage, or in the worst case, pretend damage that never actually happened. That’s according to head of solutions at Gjensidige Forsikring Noreg, Vera Sønsthagen. She emphasizes that the vast majority of them are honest, but that if they get it, they use a trust-based system. – The fact that a few take advantage and abuse it, it is important that we have a system to prevent it, as far as we can. Published 11.09.2024, at 04.30
ttn-69
Several arrested for insurance fraud in Norway – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
