#insurancefraud #jealousmuch?
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A new survey shows it’s, like, totally cool to exaggerate damages on an insurance claim or, like, totally awesome to say you hurt yourself at work when you didn’t. Sort of.
According to the new survey of insurance consumers by Verisk Analytics Inc. and the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, Americans aged 45 and younger are more tolerant of insurance fraud and “envious” of those who commit it.
The study, which collected more than 1,500 responses from a group of insurance consumers, analyzed how Americans view insurance fraud and insurance crime, and dove into the psychology of insurance fraud to understand the motivations and justification for the crime.
Matthew Smith, executive director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, said in a statement that “it’s marginally reassuring that 84% of Americans in the survey consider insurance fraud a crime” but that the “16% that do not consider it a crime potentially represent more than 53 million Americans.”
The study found that 87% to 96% of older respondents consider insurance fraud a crime, while only 75% of those under age 45 consider it a crime, with the percentage skewing downward by age to only 64% for the youngest group.
As for claims, more than 36% of all Americans believe it’s acceptable to submit an inflated auto damage claim and over 30% of 25- to 34-year-olds “definitely would” submit a fraudulent property damage claim, the study found.
Overall, 27% of those 18-24 would commit workers compensation fraud, compared with less than 10% of those 45 and older, and over a quarter of those 18-34 are “motivated” to commit insurance fraud compared with less than 7% of those over 45.
