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Crazy Claims (Melbourne)

The total cost of insurance fraud (non-health insurance) is estimated to be more than $40 billion per year in America. That means Insurance Fraud costs the average U.S. family between $400 and $700 per year in the form of increased premiums.The most recent study estimated that insurance fraud in Australia costs more than $2 billion annually, the cost of which is a significant component of today’s insurance premiums paid by individual honest policyholders.
Some examples below from Australia
Horse play for hungry horses with a panel palette
After a trail ride on a friends property, one claimant allegedly returned to find three horses gathered around his car chewing through the door seals, front spoiler, side mirrors and anything sticking out from the vehicle. The three horses’ tongues - which were apparently very rough - also scratched the paintwork on the man’s car.
Cows be berry hungry
One woman submitted a claim after her car was reportedly terrorised by calves. The woman reportedly parked under a berry tree and returned to be confronted by cows sucking the fallen berries off her car. Apparently the cow’s tongues (also very rough) scratched the paintwork on her car.
Roo’ing in a ride
One young driver was left uninjured but stunned when a six-foot kangaroo decided to hitch a ride in his passenger seat. The claimant was reportedly travelling on an open road just before dusk when the 'roo smashed through his windscreen and landed perfectly in his passenger seat. Paramedics arrived to find the startled kangaroo just chilling in the front seat sitting next to the very shocked young driver.
Demolition derby stalled only by the septic tank
An elderly man claimed his wife drove their car through their garage door, through their living room, out the other side of their house, and then crashed into their camper trailer only to push it into the home’s septic tank leading the entire carport to collapse. But the elderly man, who was at home at the time, didn’t even notice the damage. He said he was watching the television at the back of the house and had no idea what happened until his neighbours pulled his wife from the wreckage.
Harry Potter and the flying Ford Anglia copycat
One man apparently stood helplessly while his parked car rolled down a hill in reverse only to mysteriously change gear, perform a U-turn of its own accord, and then reverse back into a dam on his property. He said this claim proved pretty easy for case officers to reject. It was an automatic car.
The curious case of the accidentally stolen car
One concerned woman reported her call stolen after returning from a shopping trip to find her car had disappeared. The only problem was her car was never stolen. An elderly man had repeatedly tried to enter her car thinking it was his own. Out of frustration, he called his own insurance company who broke into the car so it could be towed to a repairer. It wasn’t until the car was taken to the workshop that workmen realised the car didn’t belong to the elderly and somewhat confused man.

Examples from Overseas

1. ID, please
A change in visa laws tripped up this fraudster. After faking his death in a canoeing accident, Briton John Darwin was living it up on his own life insurance money in Panama — until visa laws changed. Panama required increased identity verification, an obstacle for the deceased Darwin. Darwin packed up and headed back to the U.K., where he faked amnesia. Darwin’s story quickly unravelled, and both he and his wife went to prison.
2. Till death do us part
Don’t leave behind your wife with a broken heart and all the bills. That's what one Long Island, N.Y., man discovered after he faked drowning to collect insurance money. "While I was crying and thinking he had drowned, he was vacationing in a resort and having a drink in the pool," said Evana Roth, wife of the alleged deceased. Her husband, Raymond Roth, faked his death and enlisted a relative to help him keep the money from her. When she discovered the truth, she quickly turned him in.
3. But you have two arms…
Would you chop off your arm to collect on a dismemberment policy? Neither would Michael LeDuc. That's why he faked an amputation instead. To fool his insurance company, Michigan resident LeDuc submitted forged medical records showing he lost an arm in a wood chipper. His insurer caught the fraudulent paperwork. Apparently, it's hard to prove an arm amputation with two attached arms.
4. She should have ordered the salad
There’s a WHAT in your soup? Carla Patterson tried to defraud a Virginia Cracker Barrel restaurant for a $500,000 insurance settlement after claiming she found a mouse in her soup. An investigation found that the mouse didn’t have any soup in its lungs and never was cooked. She was sentenced to one year in prison.
5. A rabbi, $450 million worth of insurance fraud, and an Protected content sentence
Rabbi Sholam Weiss masterminded one of the largest insurance fraud cases in American history. Weiss organized a criminal coalition of businessmen who defrauded their way to a staggering $450 million. The judge, in turn, rewarded Weiss with a staggering Protected content in prison. Weiss’ projected release date from a Pennsylvania penitentiary is November 23, Protected content .
6. Feds scammed for breast implants
Las Vegas cosmetic surgeon Shanita Flax found an insurance fraud opportunity in a government program that paid for cancer survivors’ breast implants. Her two-part plan involved pocketing cash from patients and filing fake paperwork with the government. If her plan had worked, we wouldn't be writing about it. She was charged with 18 counts of theft and one count of attempted theft.

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