Online comparison site Finder Canada has revealed the results of a recent survey, which offers some startling details about insurance customers and the lengths they would go to in order to receive coverage.
According to the report, 43% of the 1,200 Canadian adults who participated in the survey said that they are secretly hoping for damage to their property and/or possessions to get an “upgrade” to their stuff.
Eleven per cent (11%) of Canadians would even endure a car crash where they broke bones but suffered no permanent damage – all in order to get an upgrade.
Other customers were more extreme about how they wanted to be covered by their insurers; 21% of the respondents said they would stage an event or mislead their insurer to get an insurance-paid upgrade – provided they do not get caught.
Of those who said they would be willing to commit fraud, 12% said they would crash their car or pretend it was stolen, while 10% said they would flood or burn down their house. Another 6% said they would go as far as to break their own arm, or pretend to have a chronic illness for insurance.
“Honestly, we thought the numbers for the illegal insurance actions would be much lower,” commented Finder Canada country manager William Eve. “We began this as an exercise to show how stereotypically honest Canadians are.”
Eve cautioned that false claims and fraud drive up insurance costs for everybody.
“For those who are caught, there are severe fines, costs and even jail time. At the very least, they lose their coverage and ability to get insurance coverage in the future,” the manager explained. “It’s much smarter (and safer) to carefully compare policies and get the very best deal possible on insurance premiums.”
