Smart Auto Insurance Blog

Auto insurance fraud continues to be a major problem across the nation and it’s affecting how much everyone pays for their car insurance quotes.  With proper monitoring, it’s possible to decrease the amount of fraud out there but it needs to be a group effort.  South Carolina Attorney General, Alan Wilson, stated that about $12 million was reported in South Carolina alone last year in auto insurance fraud.  This was found in a recently released report according to the article by Jessica M. Karmasek on the Legal Newsline website.  This astounding number needs to come down but it’s hard to determine exactly how to do this.

Falsified claims are the number one cause of auto insurance fraud and this is why most auto insurance companies have a claim review team in place.  Suspicious claims are sent to an expert department for review and if considered possible fraud the claim will be investigated.  Unfortunately, the downside to this process is that not all of the suspicious claims are truly fraud so innocent people end up getting the run around when submitting a claim.

With online auto insurance quotes a popular method for obtaining auto insurance, it’s no surprise fraud on the internet is happening.  Most companies, including First Acceptance Insurance and Progressive, offer quotes online for auto insurance policies.  Checks are in place to ensure the policy being set up is for the right person and the right vehicle.  Credit report information such as social security numbers, addresses and date of birth are used to confirm identity.  This is not a perfect science either and perpetrators can even alter credit reports if access is obtained to the credit reporting agencies.  Hopefully, over the next few years, monitoring will improve and the amount of fraud will decreased, ultimately lowering our auto insurance rates.

Written by Sara Smart

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According to the article “Report: SC Auto Insurance Premiums Still Below National Average” found on WCIV.vom, South Carolina drivers pay about $761.81 per year on auto insurance compared the national average of $794.98.

These findings are based on the report completed by The National Association of Insurance Commissioners.  South Carolina auto insurance continues to be below the national average according to this just released study.  In January of 2007 the South Carolina General Assembly passed a law requiring an increase in the minimum for liability insurance coverage.  A survey by South Carolina Insurance News estimates the new law caused drivers’ rates to go up by about 7-20%, but even with this increase SC residents still have very affordable auto insurance quotes.

Allison Dean Love, the Executive Director of the South Carolina Insurance News Service believes that having the proper liability coverage is crucial because of rising medical costs as well as higher costs to repair cars that may be damaged in collisions.