Chongqing police uncover car insurance scams that used staged accidents

Chongqing police recently arrested seven suspects for a series of car insurance scams involving staged incidents.

Police found that the group, based at a car repair shop, had faked 93 traffic accidents and received 680,000 yuan ($97,800) in compensation between March 2018 and January 2023.

The case is still under investigation, according to police.

Last April, officers from the Chongqing Nan'an district public security sub-bureau received a report from the Chongqing Insurance Industry Association saying that the number of accidents reported by many individuals was significantly higher than average, and the frequency of vehicle replacement was also obviously abnormal, so the association suspected fraud.

After analysis of the activities of the claimants, their vehicles and claims records, Nan'an police arrested a gang headed by a man named Xiang in March.

Xiang confessed that at his auto repair shop, some clients did not want to pay for expensive repairs and others hoped to defraud their insurance companies, so the employees worked with them to stage accidents, driving their clients' and their own cars in search of opportunities to create collisions.

Sometimes, the suspects would also involve innocent people and add to authenticity by engineering three-vehicle accidents, which threatened lives and property, the police said.

After a collision, the repair shop would contact a loss assessment company to determine the loss, and then share the insurance money with the company.

Police have warned insurance companies to strengthen risk prevention and control, and establish information-sharing channels with public security organs, so that the police can uncover evidence quickly and crack down on insurance fraud.

Car owners should also increase their awareness of insurance fraud and avoid incurring prosecution out of greed for minor profit.

From 2019 to 2021, courts across the country concluded more than 300 cases of motor insurance fraud, 43 of which were heard by Beijing courts, Beijing Changping District People's Court said.

It suggested the creation of a national network for motor vehicle insurance and that public security organs, traffic control departments, insurance regulators and insurance industry associations improve communication and coordinate law enforcement to combat illegal activities.