got hit and run!

Everything I've looked up so far indicates that as long as your insurance cuts the check to you in your name, you are free to do with that money as you please. No where does it call it "fraud" if you pocket insurance claim money.

One of several insurance articles from a quick search...

https://www.insure.com/car-insurance/pocketing-insurance-claims-money.html

If you don't outright own your vehicle then chances are that money won't be made out to you or at least part of it will be made out to the body shop. What you do with the check that is made out to you though is your right to do with as you see fit...whether or not it's a 'good idea' in the long run (resale value for example) is a matter of debate but calling it "fraud" is incorrect.

 

wrong. it is a type of fraud and creates losses for the insurance company. so another reason to raise premiums. what most of you (and googled internet articles) don’t know, is there are different categories of insurance fraud. not all fraud is considered criminal and the extent of each type varies greatly. if your insurance cuts you a check to fix your vehicle, they expect you to fix your vehicle. not doing so violates the two-way contract of utmost good faith. again, nothing criminal about it but it’s just not the right thing to do. and then you complain because your premium goes up.

 

Evidence please so called “expert”? By evidence I mean something written somewhere by someone in the insurance industry. Not just more smoke emanating from your posterior.

 

Show me the law or contract that says you have to fix a truck with the money insurance pays out, instead of buying hookers and blow.

I mean you do realize there are laws that define what is fraud and what isn't, right?

When you can't find one please shut the fuck up and quit giving advice on something you know nothing about.

 

Your "facts" are not reality! I know from experience.

 

to go even further, the legalities of what you can do with an insurance payout can vary greatly from state to state and company to company. so obviously i’m speaking general terms.

factors are used to determine what you can do - do you own the vehicle? is there a lien holder? whose name is on the check? can you make the repairs to the vehicle back to legal operating condition?

the good news is, if you own the vehicle outright and the vehicle is still legal to operate on the road, you can use the money however you want. this is assuming your name is on the check.

sometimes the check is made out to a specific repair shop. and sometimes it’s made out to a lien holder.

if there is a lien holder, then you don’t own the vehicle and you are obligated to fix your vehicle. especially if it’s a lease. we all know what happens when you turn in a lease and it’s not in good condition. if it’s being financed, the bank owns it and they will want it fixed.

while there are definitely some rules you need to follow with a damage payout, making the wrong decision doesn’t mean you’ll go to jail for fraud. but it can mean you’ll be acting in “bad faith” and there can be adverse consequences down the road.

 

Dexter Morgan was a serial killer on TV. What are you exactly?

 

Yay! The local “insurance expert” finally did the same Google search everyone else already did and summarized the article he read after clicking “I’m feeling lucky” thus getting himself on the same page as everyone has been telling him so far.

Maybe he’ll sleep in a Holiday Inn Express tonight and emerge even more knowledgeable!

 

i can’t copy and paste any of my policy documents from work. so i had to break it down to the lowest level, so some of you can understand better.

 

so the next time your premiums go up for “no reason”, think of that money your insurance company is paying out to people who aren’t using it as intended.

 

I don’t think the act of accepting the payment, if written solely to the owner of a paid off car, is fraud in and of itself when the repair is not made. But if the owner continues to have the vehicle insured for the same value, and then it’s damaged in the same area and the owner receives another check that assumes a vehicle that was fully repaired the first time, that’s basically double payment for the same damage, and THAT I think constitutes actual fraud.

The owner could theoretically accept that original check for the dinged bumper and then drop the insurance immediately. In that case tell me how the insurance company lost out, and how that’s deceptive. There’s no victim. I think it’s important to be specific about which action is actually deceptive.

Disclaimer: I’m not an attorney and not an insurance expert. But I like to think I have a reasonable (but limited) supply of logic and common sense.

 

The one phrase that applies to this whole thread is: words mean things.

 

Before you fall off your high horse and hurt yourself... think of how much it hurts the insurance industry when they pay out for damages that legitimately did happen, and you decide to go snort blow off a hooker's cheeks, and just live with the damage.

Hint: not a damn bit. Even if someone else later hits the same area, and further damages it, and you get paid again. Had you decided to repair it rather than divert the payment to your 'entertainment' budget, incident #2 would've damaged the new parts just as well as the damaged the damaged ones. And that's not even what we're talking about here.

Please, do tell how me taking the money I'm legitimately owed, and doing what the hell I wish with it, is hurting the party that owed it to me either way.

 

How many people in California actually have auto insurance? Let's be honest with ourselves.

 

... I’ve worked in litigation for years and don’t understand where your info comes from on insurance.

It is not fraud to use insurance money on other things besides fixing the vehicle.
You just cannot double claim damage in the future.

The point of insurance is to make you whole again after a monetary loss. Under contract the insurance company owes you damages claimed that are valid under your policy. It is NOT money loss for them as they have to pay the claim under contract law regardless.

 

Last month I hit a deer. I used USAA's claims app they cut me a check the same day. The place I chose to get it fixed did the supplemental. Again USAA deposited extra money in my checking account. I paid for repairs at my choice. No lien. I could have gotten a different front bumper. No one checked what I did.

 

The real question is. Do you want a new factory design bumper, or a heavier duty aftermarket one?

It's your truck and your choice!
Depends on what you want.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_fraud

To me, Insurance Fraud is the environment in which the insurance companies operate (a gizillion rating “factors”, unclear credit ratings, premiums based on god knows what....)

I don’t know why you folks are giving @cromag27 a hard time. He’s an insurance insider giving you his perspective. Towing the company line.

Good information to have while exercising your choice in our free (at least today) country

 

If the O.P. still owes money on the truck,Insurance will cut him a check in his name AND the lien holders name,he will then be forced to get the truck repaired at a certified body repair shop.If the O.P. owns the truck outright,he will get a check in his name only for estimated repairs and is free to do whatever he wants to with the money.If the O.P. then chooses not to repair his truck,his insurance can and most likely will deny paying again for a repair in that area later on.