Do you know what is sliding in insurance? Sliding in insurance is when additional services are included in the insurance agreement, intentionally hidden from the knowledge of the party insured. Insurance sliding is an illegal practice done by shady and fraudulent insurance agents or providers. They do these to unnecessarily increase the cost of the insurance plan by including coverages that the insured party is unaware of for their gain.
If you became a victim of insurance sliding, you would be surprised why the cost of the insurance plan is higher than what you expected. This is because you are charged for the additional services that you were not informed of.
More than likely, these services are not deemed necessary and are things you would probably not agree to include in your insurance plan. The deceptive insurance agents will try to mislead you into agreeing with the contract before you find out about these. How much the scheme would affect you depends on your financial position.
Some people don’t mind this and pay for it, thinking that maybe they just missed the part about that product or service included in the insurance plan. However, for some people with a tight budget, this would affect them hugely. Especially if the cost for the insurance plan largely exceeds their expected cost. The longer you learn about it, the more troublesome it becomes. The worst case is if you just found about it when it is time to pay.
What Sliding In Insurance Is And How To Avoid Insurance Scams
To avoid insurance scams, you would need to be careful at all times and make sure that the insurance companies that you work with have good reputations. You should be aware of your rights as the insured and know how to protect yourself. Ensure that the insurance company you want to form an agreement with is licensed by the government. It should be easy to contact and keep in touch with the company. That is why this article “What is sliding in insurance?” will help.
If they have an online website, see if it looks professional and well-made and try to reach them through the contact information provided on their website. Make sure not to provide personal information like your credit card number and such. Legitimate insurance agents would not ask for this, especially on the phone. Once you are sure of the company and have chosen your plan, always ask questions to ensure everything.
Do not forget to read everything written on the contract. Make sure you know everything about the policy, and the services that are offered.
Common Examples Of Insurance Fraud
The best way to protect yourself against insurance fraud is to make yourself aware of how they work. This would prepare you and know how to handle things when you find yourself in one of these examples. Always remember, though, it is better to avoid and prevent yourself from being in these situations. However, if you can’t avoid it, you should know how to deal with it properly to prevent yourself from being preyed upon and taken advantage of.
The biggest weapon you have here is your knowledge. Knowing the right things would keep you away safe, and less likely to face huge financial losses.
Below, examples of common insurance frauds are listed:
#1. Sliding
Insurance sliding is the main topic of this article. Additional services are included in the insurance plan’s policy without the insured knowing about it. This leads to higher charges, and because the insured does not know about these additional services, they are not claimed. If you do not have the on how insurance companies work, these people will fool you easily. So, before you pay for your insurance, make sure you know how much you should pay and note your previous transactions.
#2. Twisting
Insurance twisting is when an agent persuades a policyholder to drop their current insurance plan for a similar one with misleading information. Again, it wastes the client’s time and money. Deceptive agents usually do this for the brokerage commission they get every time they close and sell an insurance plan or policy.
#3. Premium fraud
Premium fraud is when the agent successfully receives the payment from the client but does not hand it over to the company. In this case, the company would not be able to provide the service to the client. The agent, however, provides fake documents to make the client think that he is insured.
#4. Liability schemes
Liability schemes happen when the insured claims to have been in an accident that caused an injury when in reality, it never really happened. Since liability claims are often covered by insurance, people would take advantage of it. This is so that they could receive their benefits from the insurance providers.
Final Words
At the end of this article, I hope that you have learned what is sliding in insurance. Regardless, you might want to learn why car insurance is important, since we use cars almost daily you want to make sure that you are safe from paying tons of cash for damage to your car. Thank you for reading up to this point of the article. Your time and effort are very much appreciated.