Was that really an “accident”?
It's nothing new for criminals to try and gain money with fraudulent insurance claims. As the economy continues to fluctuate, people begin to worry about money and how they're going to get it. Many times this opens the door to criminal thought and behavior.
Now criminals are using methods that could target you as a victim during a car accident. Many of these schemes involve an orchestrated whole team of people with multiple cars involved. The scenarios are very detailed and usually involve trying to take advantage of the insurance companies.
It's really a shame what criminals will try and do to scam the system and it only makes things more difficult for the real victims in accidents and injury claims. Here's a short list of a few ways you can protect yourself from falling victim to these car accident frauds:
- Avoid following too close (or tailgating) the car in front of you. They may try and catch you off guard and slam on their brakes causing you to crash into them.
- Take lots of pictures of the accident scene, the people involved, and all of the cars involved in the crash. You are trying to record as much of the vehicular damage as possible as well as document how many passengers were involved.
- Make sure you call the police and file a police report. You want to make sure that everyone who was involved has a record of being part of the accident.
If you are hurt, you should seek out medical attention and document it fully with recorded statements, written statements and even photos of your injuries. You might also consider speaking with an experienced Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer about your case.