False hail claim, off-roading lie round out top 5 MPI fraud cases of 2017

Manitoba Public Insurance's special team of sleuths was kept busy this year. The unit closed 2,560 investigations which amounted to $6.2 million in savings for Manitoba auto insurance ratepayers.

The insurer released its annual "Top Five Frauds" list Thursday, to share some of the more colourful stories vehicle owners crafted to back up their insurance claims.

1) 'Drowned' while mudding

MPI said the top fraud case of 2017 included a driver who intentionally plunged a vehicle into the mud for fun. Initially the driver told officials the vehicle sank in a watery ditch after spinning out on a gravel road.

"The investigation told another story: the vehicle had in fact been 'drowned' while four-wheel mudding," a release from MPI read.

"In addition, a web page for a local Jeep club published a photo from a long-weekend rally, showing the vehicle stuck and buried in deep mud."

Investigators also found the vehicle owner took the the water-logged vehicle to get fixed at a dealership before filing the claim. Dealership staff said the removal of water from engine oil wouldn't be covered by insurance.

The owner withdrew the claim after MPI presented them "with all the facts." The investigation saved Manitoba ratepayers an estimated $36,000, MPI said.

"If claimants withdraw their claim, MPI‎ typically does not pursue legal action," MPI spokesperson Brian Smiley wrote in an email. "Legal action is often lengthy, and withdraw mitigates our losses/costs."

2) Hail damage? Not so much.

Ratepayers were saved another $6,000 when MPI denied a hail damage claim following an investigation.

The owner said the vehicle was parked outside when a hail dump from a severe storm left 200 dents. Upon closer inspection, MPI staff determined Mother Nature wasn't to blame. A tool or object caused the dents, MPI said.

That owner, too, withdrew the damage claim.

3) Fender bender

In third place, a driver filed a claim MPI said didn't initially show signs of fraud. A novice driver admitted to getting into a fender bender while accompanied by a supervising driver during the crash.

But an MPI employee went sleuthing and found a classified ad in a foreign-language newspaper seeking a "supervising driver." Investigators connected the dots and linked the ad to the novice driver, MPI said.

The driver recanted and admitted to not having a supervising driver present at the time of the crash. The claim was withdrawn. The driver also signed a $2,500 promissory note to cover the cost of repairs to the vehicle.

4) Inconveniently placed camera

In the fraud case deemed fourth most creative of 2017, MPI said an owner claimed to have lent the vehicle to a friend, who smacked into a cement pole after narrowly missing an animal on the road.

Video from a closed-circuit security camera angled right above the crash site revealed a different chain of events.

"The video clearly showed the vehicle driven at a high speed directly into the cement pole — with no animal anywhere to be seen," MPI wrote in a statement. 

"The video also proved the driver was not a friend, but in fact, the owner of the vehicle."

The owner later repaid MPI the $7,000 worth of repairs that were done to the vehicle.

5) Injured but pumping iron with ease 

After months off work from injuries sustained during a crash, MPI cut the income replacement payments it was doling out to one vehicle owner. Turns out the person recovered and happened to be fit enough to work — and work out — but continued to receive payments.

"As the months passed, suspicions arose about how injured the claimant really was," MPI stated. 

"An extensive investigation soon discovered the claimant led a very active life, including making regular trips to the gym where they were seen lifting heavy amounts of weights."

Medical experts reviewed the case alongside insurance officials, and the group decided the claimant was able to return to work. MPI terminated the income replacement payments and saved an estimated $55,000.

In total, MPI saved about $100,000 on these five claims alone.