To support International Fraud Awareness Week (15-21 November), the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) decided to run a short, five question quiz to test the insurance fraud knowledge of New Zealanders. Even if you didn’t take the quiz, you might be surprised at how much you do or don’t know about insurance fraud. Read on for more about how insurance fraud might affect you, and why you should be concerned about it.
- Exaggeration of insurance claims
Believe it or not, exaggerating an insurance claim is a common form of insurance fraud and one that our quiz respondents were well aware of (91% or respondents answered this question correctly). We asked if people knew of others that exaggerated their insurance claims, and who added items to their insurance claim that weren’t damaged or lost.
It is important to understand that exaggeration is considered insurance fraud, and there are consequences when you’re caught.
Our recent IFB UMR Survey (July 2021) found that 63% of survey respondents thought exaggerating claims was the most common type of insurance fraud.
- Jail time for insurance fraud
Did you know that committing insurance fraud can end up in jail time? We’re pleased to report that 92% of our quiz respondents understood that jail time is a consequence of committing insurance fraud. In fact, you can go to jail for up to three years if convicted for insurance fraud.
Our recent IFB UMR Survey (July 2021) reported only 57% of respondents knew that they could receive a criminal conviction if caught committing insurance fraud.
- The cost of insurance fraud
Guessing the cost of insurance fraud was the most difficult question of our quiz. Only 32% of quiz respondents correctly guessed the cost to the New Zealand insurance industry.
In comparison, six out of ten respondents underestimated New Zealand’s annual insurance fraud cost in our IFB UMR Survey (July 2021). The industry estimate is currently $739 million.
- The consequences of insurance fraud
We provided our quiz respondents a range of consequences for insurance fraud, and 72% of respondents correctly guessed that they were all consequences for committing insurance fraud.
Our IFB UMR Survey (July 2021) showed that six out of ten survey respondents didn’t understand the consequences of committing insurance fraud.
- Who commits insurance fraud?
Do you know if individuals or businesses are more likely to commit insurance fraud? Our quiz respondents did fairly well on this question with 79% correctly guessing individuals were more likely to commit insurance fraud.
In comparison, of our IFB UMR Survey (July 2021) respondents, only 51% thought individuals were more likely than a business to commit insurance fraud.
For more information about our more detailed 2021 research about insurance fraud in New Zealand, see our handy infographic.