Insurance Fraud

Inspired by the used engagement ring thread: what protects insurance companies from rampant fraudulent claims with regards to stolen diamonds? I bought my wife a 2ct. engagement ring and it is insured for about $3k more than I paid. Morality aside, what is keeping us from having the ring "stolen" and getting a windfall?

I share Los Feliz Slim's feeling that it probably isn't as easy as it sounds...

[trying2learn]

i had a friend try to pull a big insurance scam - having his own house robbed - and he did very well EXCEPT for the ring. it was odd...they paid him for his tv, stereo, etc...but they said that he couldn't prove that the ring was at the house and also stolen.

Well, I was at a diamond store yesterday actually and get this: they had serial numbers on their diamonds (the bigger ones anyway) that were I guess laser imprinted at a size invisible to the eye.

[tonypaladino]

My grandmother had an expensive ring stolen while there were flooring guys in the house installing linolium (sp?). The insurance company paid out pretty quickly, but this was 15 years ago, so I hope they have better investigations now. The ring turned up about 10 years later when my grandmother found it in the shoebox she hid it in because she was worried the floor guys would take it.

[HopeydaFish]

I had a friend who I went on vacation to Cuba with many years ago. He had bought a fairly expensive watch a little while before the trip. His plan was to have it "stolen" in Cuba and then get the value reimbursed to him through his (travel?) insurance. The plan fell apart when he had to go to the police station in Cuba and get a police report about the theft. The Cuban police didn't speak english and he couldn't pantomime well enough the fact that his watch was stolen in order to get them to understand. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Sacramento Kevin]

There are a number of factors that come into play (I work for a homeowners insurer).

1) They won't necessarily pay the full value that you have it insured to - just what it would take to replace it from a jeweler that they can work with.

2) If there are red flags, they'll have fraud divisions investigate the claim very closely. These are typically ex-cops or fire fighters who get off on catching fraud.

3) Depending on the company, if you file multiple claims your policy can be non-renewed or have the rates increased. The thought being that someone who is turning in multiple claims (especially in claims like this that are difficult to prove) are more prone to insurance fraud. It's also much more difficult to switch insurance companies if you have a claim on stolen jewelry.