Insurance frauds rise during Covid, Hyderabad lab gets 50 complaints

HYDERABAD: Notwithstanding the pandemic, instances of insurance claim frauds have gone up in the last four months.

A private forensic science laboratory in Hyderabad alone received as many as 50 claims of insurance fraud, a majority of cases pertaining to fire accidents in manufacturing firms, godowns and shopping establishments. Truth Labs founder-chairman Dr KPC Gandhi said the fraud cases did not see any decline despite the lockdown and post-lockdown situation.

“We have received fraud cases involving Rs 350 crore from various parts of the country. Fire accident claims in commercial establishments and motor vehicle cases have increased and a forensic analysis has established the fraud,” he said.

In one of such cases, a fire mishap was reported in N Yash Fans, Kukatpally on May 28 this year. Gandhi said it was a stage-managed fire to claim insurance. “When workers and staff members were coming to the premises, one of them saw smoke billowing out of the first floor where packing material was stored. They started vacating the premises and assembled all workers at the assembly point. At around 9:30 am, the fire services department was alerted and their personnel arrived at the premises at about 10:30 am. The fire was brought under control after a day. The fire damaged two rooms on the ground floor, one room on the first floor and parts of the terrace,” he recalled.

The remaining rooms were unaffected. “Our experts found that the fire travel patterns were disconnected and affected rooms mainly contained packing materials and some finished goods. Discreet enquiries with neighbours and local authorities had revealed that the fire was suspicious,” said Gandhi. The version of factory witnesses and neighbours regarding the fire differed. It is suspected insured party could have resorted to unfair means as business was affected due to closure during peak season of summer, he said.

The investigation had revealed that it was a stage-managed fire, he added.

Source: The Times of India

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