Rate-evasion insurance fraud is a serious offence

It seems harmless enough. You grew up in a small rural town. Your parents still live there, so you use their address for your auto insurance policy rather than your current address in the big city, where you will actually be driving most of the time.

Sure, you may save a few hundred dollars a year. But understand this: you have just committed fraud. If you are caught, the consequences are extremely serious.

Insurance companies are now actively looking for people who commit fraud by misrepresenting their address on their auto insurance application in order to obtain lower premium payments, which is known as “rate evasion.”

Drivers who commit fraud through rate evasion are growing. Fraudsters have developed all kinds of tricks to commit rate evasion. Some use post office box addresses or nonexistent addresses. Others have tried to trick the system by changing their address at various government offices without actually moving, then applying for insurance at the lower-rated address.

Honest customers deserve the lowest premiums available. They shouldn’t be paying higher auto insurance rates to subsidize these fraudsters who cheat the system. But this is the reality that is happening now.

That’s why Aviva Canada takes a zero tolerance approach to fraud.

In order to protect our honest customers, anyone found to have committed insurance fraud through rate evasion or other means will have their policy cancelled and may face criminal charges. The consequences if you are convicted of insurance fraud are severe, it can negatively impact a person’s immigration, residence, or employment status.

The stakes are high. Across Canada, insurance fraud costs consumers more than $1 billion per year.

Insurance companies lose profit when rate evasion is committed. As a result, the cost of fraud is passed onto customers as higher premiums.

We know the number of people who commit fraud is small, but the cost is high. And the number of honest drivers who pay those costs is also high.

Even if you have honest intentions, you could become a victim of this kind of insurance fraud. 

Beware of anyone who would suggest they know how to get you a lower rate – they may actually help you to unknowingly commit rate evasion fraud. Some of these unlicenced insurance scam artists actually charge people for their “services,” which amount to little more than conspiracy to commit fraud.

Always use a licensed and registered insurance broker to help you set up your policy accurately and legally. You also have the option of contacting your insurer directly.

If you want to pay lower auto insurance premiums, help us expose fraudsters. Report suspected insurance fraud to Aviva Canada’s Fraud Information Centre which is available 24/7 by calling 1-855-332-5255 or emailing anti-fraud_management@avivacanada.com.