[This is a guest post]
To the honest, hard-working American, the measures that life insurance companies take to prevent fraud – what with their investigation, thorough application process, and then re-evaluations of those applications – might seem like overkill. However, it only seems that way, because you are that honest, hard-working American that couldn’t dream up the kinds of situations that life insurance companies see year after year.
There are some truly twisted, insane, and completely unthinkable things that people will do just to cut corners and cash in on hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars. You can visit Suncorps life insurance page to find coverage for you and your loved ones.
Exhibit A – “The Undertakers’ Undertaking”
In a case that has become infamously known as The Great Coffin Caper, two undertakers from Los Angeles devised a wicked plot to not only completely invent a family member, but to have that completely fictitious individual die and leave them claim to a hefty, completely forged, $950,000 insurance policy.
These two acquired all of the illegal documentation needed to conjure a person out of thin air and then used it to acquire an insurance policy. While they plotted and planned, they paid a few premiums, and then killed off the very person they’d invented in order to cash in.
While the insurance company was already investigating the matter, these two undertakers went so far as to stage an entire funeral, using the resources at their disposal. They hired fake mourners and put a mannequin, as well as cow meat (for weight), into the coffin… and buried it. Of course, out of fear that the coffin might be exhumed if questions were raised, they went ahead and dug it back up, claiming to have realized the departed actually wanted to be cremated.
Such a haphazardly thrown together plot couldn’t possibly have a flaw, could it? Oh, but it did, and it brought down the entire house of cards – the doctor they’d bribed to provide much-needed medical documentation about the death suddenly had an attack of conscience. Down went the whole charade.
Exhibit B – “DNA: It Knows Better”
Another case of insurance fraud gone awry depicts the story of Clayton & Molly Daniels. Clayton was a fugitive from the law and his wife Molly was tired of running. In an effort to raise the funds needed to leave the country and get the police of Clayton’s trail, Molly devised a plot to fake Clayton’s death and cash in on his life $110,000 life insurance policy.
Their plan? Push Clayton’s car off of a cliff. Their next thought? Wait, there needs to be a body inside! Luckily, these two didn’t kill anyone in order to fulfill their scheme, but they did dig up a body at their local cemetery – one Mrs. Charlotte Davis, an elderly woman – and put her in the car, wearing Clayton’s clothes.
In an effort to make the body too burned to be recognized, they set the body on fire in driver’s seat, before pushing the car off the cliff. Of course, investigations proved that the fire originated in the driver’s seat and the DNA results proved that the person in the car was female – so, not Clayton.
Of course, even if they’d gotten away with the car ruse, they still wouldn’t have gotten away with it. After the authorities were already well on their way to nailing Clayton and Molly, a local neighbor of theirs called in claiming to have seen Clayton, alive and well, with a fake mustache claiming to be Molly’s new boyfriend.
Fraud is Alive, Well, & Obviously Crazy
Keep in mind that stories like these – often worse – pop up every single year and cause the insurance industry to lose around $68 BILLION DOLLARS every single year. It’s that prevalent. All of the measures that the life insurance companies put into place are for your benefit; the less they lose, the less you lose in premiums.