Canadian police brush themselves up on staged collisions

In an effort to decrease auto insurance premiums for Ontarians, many law enforcement officers will be learning more about staged collisions this year, which ultimately wind up costing policyholders billions of dollars annually in excess premiums.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, for the rest of the year, the IBC and the Canadian Knowledge Network will sponsor access to an online training course, called "Identifying Staged Collisions." The program is believed to be a helpful resource that can aid law enforcement in better detecting auto insurance fraud attempts and crime rings that may be associated with illegal activity.

Rick Dubin, vice president of investigative services for IBC, noted that all Canadians wind up paying for these criminal pursuits, both financially and physically, by increasing traffic accident frequency.

"Insurance fraud is a serious problem right across Canada and we all pay for it in the form of increased premiums," said Dubin. "In terms of staged collisions, at times, innocent drivers are drawn into these dangerous situations and we hope this initiative will help police deal with the crime. The more informed police officers are on this issue, the more we can disrupt and disable these types of criminal operations."

Because insurance crime has been a pervasive problem for the past several years, "Identifying Staged Collisions" was created. The program is a 45-minute online course that illustrates examples of collisions that may be staged based on various hallmarks of situations that suggest deception. It also provides law enforcement officers with techniques on how to investigate suspected fraud attempts.

Tony Cummins, of the York Regional Police Training and Education Bureau, said an increasing amount of manpower and resources is being devoted to auto insurance fraud.

"More and more, our officers are called out to suspect collision scenes," said Cummins. "In cooperation with IBC experts, we've developed this course to address a growing problem in our region. But it also provides practical information that any responding officer, in any part of the country, can use to recognize and investigate a staged collision."

Dubin noted that while the online training course may not yield results right away, it's an additional preventive measure that should help spot staged collisions, thereby potentially helping to curb fraud attempts.

In a recent interview with the North Bay Nugget, Bernie Robertson, president of the North Bay and Area Insurance Brokers Association, described the extent to which insurance fraud has impacted Canadians.

According to Robertson, insurance fraud costs $1.5 billion in Ontario alone, or what amounts to an extra $150 on top of policyholders' annual premiums. In addition to using tools that can increase detection, Robertson noted that the province established an Auto Insurance Anti-Fraud Task Force last year, which has put a stop to numerous fraud attempts since its formation and has recommended many changes.

In addition to funding other staged collisions, the IBC and CPKN believe these activities also finance other organized crime rings that occur both within Canada and in other parts of the world, so eliminating them will have even greater benefits.