In the good old days before there were organized police forces, it was left to a few individuals to enforce the law. When they proved inadequate, there were feuds and vigilante action by the victims. Obviously, this fighting disturbed everyone, so states slowly got into the law enforcement business, recruiting and training people to keep the peace and identify criminals. Today, we rely on state and federal policing agencies, supported by CSI and other forensic agencies. But there’s been a fundamental and unchanging truth from the early days. More people avoid detection and profit from their crimes than are caught. That’s why the courts are forced to use deterrent sentencing. What judges are saying to potential criminals is there will be long periods of imprisonment if they are caught. The irony is that, if people were sure they would be caught, lighter punishments would be sufficient. It would cost us less to keep all these people in jail. Our society would be safer.

So why is it so difficult to detect fraud? Surely dishonesty should be obvious to an experienced insurance company? Well, sadly, detecting which claims are fraudulent is not easy. Let’s take a simple question. Both drivers involved admit there was an accident. One driver submits a medical report showing neck injuries. On what basis should the insurer challenge the medical report? Well, detailed investigation might show this particular clinic advertises for people to report accidents to them. Or this clinic may consistently be receiving business through referral networks. Either way, the clinic is found to specialize in the treatment of traffic accident injuries. This could make them highly skillful and deserving professional respect, or it could suggest the clinic exaggerates the injuries for its own profit when it bills for treatment, paying commission to referral agents and passing only some of the benefit on to “patients” who get settlements for their injuries. Is an insurer supposed to get a second opinion from an independent doctor on every patient from suspect clinics? Or suppose someone wants to get out of an auto loan so stages a small accident and pays a repair shop to set off the air bags and certify more serious damage so the vehicle will be totaled. If this is a one-off event and there’s no pattern to suggest this repair shop is dishonest, why should this particular claim set off alarm bells?

There’s no doubt the level of fraud has been at epidemic levels for a decade and more. Several billion dollars a year are being sucked out of insurance companies by criminals. In turn, all these losses are passed on to us in higher car insurance rates. This makes insurance fraud a political issue, albeit mainly in the no-fault states where the levels of dishonesty seem to be higher. Although there’s a National Insurance Crime Bureau established with the task of coordinating the fight against fraud, there’s little sign of success. It will take a major cultural change to deter people from this type of crime when the chances of being caught are so low. Even when staffing levels are improved by the insurers and the law enforcement agencies, there’s little observed change in behavior. The fraudulent claims keep coming in and the auto insurance quotes keep rising.

It would be better if the world was an easier place, if everything was straightforward. But it’s not. Sadly, the world is a hard place and seller take your money without having to deliver the service whenever possible. The Romans had a saying, “caveat emptor”. It means, “let the buyer beware”. So the good advice from two thousand years ago is always read the small print before you sign the agreement. That way, you avoid the bad deals or, if there are likely to be problems, you can see where they are and work round them. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask. You usually find companies are obliging before you sign. They want to appear willing so they can take your money.

Let’s start with the good news. The courts in most states operate the rule that any ambiguity in the policy is always resolved in your favor. Courts reckon insurers can afford the best attorneys to write the contracts. If they can’t get the wording clear enough, that’s their problem and they have to pay out on your claims. But if the wording of the agreement is clear, you’re caught by whatever it says. If you never bothered to read the policy or read it and failed to understand, that’s your problem.

As an example, here’s a recent case from sunny Florida. M lived on her own. She owned and insured a car, but allowed her granddaughter to drive it. Her granddaughter lived with her parents at a separate address. On the fateful day, the granddaughter was driving the car with the family as passengers. There was an accident. The driver and passengers were injured. So here comes the first question. Can you say who your “relatives” are? That’s easy, isn’t it. This is anyone related to you by blood or marriage, and it has nothing to do with where they live. So if the policy says the insurer will pay on a claim when the car is driven by the insured and his or her relatives, you know what that means. Does the policy also cover the car when it’s driven by anyone else with the insured’s consent? That can be important if, for some reason, you need a neighbor or friend to drive you around.

So what do you make of this phrase: there’s no coverage for any injuries to an insured or a family member living with the insured. Is the “insured” always M, the policyholder paying the premium installments, or does it include relatives or others driving with the owner’s consent? The Florida appeals court has just held the word “insured” always refers to the driver. This meant the granddaughter and her parents could not claim for their injuries because they lived together in the same house. You would have known that, right? This car insurance policy is unambiguous. You didn’t think M was the insured and so the driver and her passengers could claim?

Courts have a habit of thinking some words have obvious meanings. If you are covered when you drive, you are insured no matter whether you pay the premium. So to prevent being caught, read the policy before signing. Don’t just accept the car insurance quotes on the basis of cost. If you have any doubt, ask what the policy means.

There are many aspects of insuring your car that may seem a bit strange and even unfair. The price formation of policies is usually conditioned by factors that an ordinary consumer may consider irrelevant yet the insurer will see a precise way to asses the risk of insuring a particular person. And of all the factors that will affect your insurance premium one of the most strange is the gender. Yes, that’s right the price of insurance will vary depending on whether you are a male or a female. Sure, it may sound sexist and discriminatory but there are real facts supporting such an approach. And if you think that male drivers are charged less because they are better while behind the wheel you’re in for a big surprise!

Yes, it’s a fact that you can get a different premium just because of your gender. But before you start calling in the court for a discrimination case take a look at the facts that drive the insurance companies to act so strange. First of all you have to understand that insurance companies are crazy about assessing the risk they take upon themselves when insuring someone. They will use any awkward factor that will allow them to predict how it is likely for a person to file an insurance claim. And while the place of residence, education and marital status may seem logic from that perspective the gender of the driver isn’t something rational from the customer’s point of view. Yet, the statistics state otherwise and insurance companies are happy to use them in order to support their approach.

According to statistics female drivers file less claims then male drivers. And not because there are more men on the road in general. In relative terms the percentage of women filing claims is less compared to men. Moreover, female drivers tend to end in far less serious accidents, causing less damage and implying less costs to cover. Because of that the insurance companies usually charge female drivers with lower auto insurance rates than men. Of course, this doesn’t mean that all female drivers are good on the road and don’t cause any trouble. There are always good and bad drivers no matter the gender, age, social status and place of residence. However, the general trend is as described above and insurance companies take in consideration every aspect of the statistics that allows them to handle their risks.

If you are a male driver and find yourself offended by such a trend in auto insurance price formation there’s only one solution available – shopping around. There are many companies out there with different statistics concerning their customers, so there is a chance to find a company that has as many accidents with female drivers involved as men. Still, the best thing to really set your mind to is having a good auto insurance policy. Does it really matter who is paying more or less? The really important thing is that your policy would be adequate to your personal needs and priced as competitively as possible.

The problem with insurance is nothing in life is ever completely certain. One day the housing market can be rolling along, everyone certain prices can only ever go up. The next day, we’re pitched into a recession, major banks are in trouble and the housing market has collapsed. Because insurance is based on the concept of good faith, there’s supposed to be give and take on both sides of the relationship. An insurer cannot physically inspect every property it agrees to cover. To some extent, it must always rely on the honesty of the home owner to get proper estimates for the cost of rebuilding. After all, if the owner innocently underinsures, he or she will have to pay the additional costs out of savings. The insurer will not be at risk. If there was fraud, the insurer has the right to cancel the policy and avoid any payment. This protection for the insurer is fairly comprehensive. Hence, to offer better balance, most insurers offer guaranteed or extended replacement cover cover.

The point of this cover is simple. No matter how hard you try, no pre-estimate of the cost of rebuilding is ever absolute. It’s only when you get on the ground and start work you find out what all the problems are going to be. Costs have an unfortunate habit of rising and it’s relatively common for owners to have to sacrifice features of their old home to get the building work finished within budget. But, if you’re prepared to pay about 10% more on the premium rate, you can buy guaranteed cover, i.e. the insurer will pay the actual cost.

Let’s go back to the beginning again. Many insurance policies have a cap, i.e. the insurer places an upper limit on the amount you can claim. This may be a limit for all standard policyholders, or the cap may vary depending on the amount of premium you pay. The only way you can avoid the cap is by buying the extended cover. Why might costs go up significantly more than you expect? Suppose you bought an older home. It was picturesque with a wooden frame and shingles. If you now come to rebuild it, you can find reproducing the traditional building methods are expensive when you face compliance with the current building code. Everything may need to be redesigned including the electrical and plumbing systems. Once you are talking in hundreds of thousands for rebuilding, paying an extra 10% in premium can be very good value to get guaranteed completion.

Stepping outside the scope of the homeowners insurance policy, some insurers are now offering Home Value Protection policies to safeguard against a fall in the resale value of your property. In reality, this is slightly closer to a bet than most insurance policies and you need to read the terms carefully. Most have a high deductible if you claim during the first two years. Since most experts believe the housing market will begin to pick up again within the next two years, you may conclude such policies are not good value for money. Nevertheless, the next time you’re reviewing your insurance portfolio, it may be interesting to get additional quotes for Home Value Protection when you get your homeowners insurance quotes.

There’s a reason why most sites like this talk about discounts as the best way of saving money. It happens to be true but, to take advantage of the discounts safely, you need to think carefully. Let’s start with the most commonly mentioned. All you have to do to make big savings is to increase your deductible. Indeed, the theory is often proved correct that an increase from $500 to $1000 can save you up to 25% of the annual premium. But there are two issues to think about.

Many insurance companies are already increasing the deductible whether you asked for it or not. The reason for this is the rise in the number of claims from bad weather. No matter what your view on global warming or climate change, the last two years have seen record-breaking claims for damage caused by snow, flooding, tornadoes and hurricanes. This year is ending on another unusual note with unexpected snowfall disrupting the northeast in late October, early November. The amount of snow and disruption to more than 2 million homes has broken new records for October for West Virginia through to Maine. All these additional claims mean premium rates will be going up again next year, and the deductibles are being adjusted on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Don’t be caught out. Before you raise the deductible yourself, find out what your insurer has done. Second, if you do increase the deductible, can you afford to self-insure all the small accidental losses around the home? If not, resist rises in the deductible.

Now on to the other discounts. In the good old days before the internet, people used to rely on the agent to claim all the discounts. These people knew you and your home. They understood the inner working of the insurers. They used to protect you (well, they were supposed to protect you). Now you have moved online, you are the only one who can look out for your own interests. There are a range of monitors and sensors you can fit to your home that will save you money. The details will vary from company to company so, before you spend any money, get a list of the approved devices and cost their installation. Never fit anything unless you can recover the cost in savings within a reasonable period of time. These include central station alarm systems for both unauthorized entry and temperature rises, smoke, water and gas leaks, and so on. Whenever you renovate, ensure your rebuilding cover is increased and that you gain access to the discounts.

Finally, revisit the question of bundling policies together with the same insurer. Almost all companies will give you a discount if you give them more business. So if you have one or two family cars, giving the same company both the auto and home insurance policies can represent at least 10% in savings. This needs quite careful research to confirm. Get as many quotes as possible for individual cover with different companies, and then look at what savings you will get if you bundle with any one of them. Never assume one of your existing companies will give you the best deal. Always shop around and get as many car and home insurance quotes as possible.