Manitoba's top 5 auto insurance frauds of 2011

December 23, 2011

A clumsy arsonist and a not-so-injured trucker were among those who tried, but failed, to defraud Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) in the past year.

No. 1: Playing with fire
A Winnipeg man agreed to set fire to a vehicle owned by an acquaintance, who wanted his decrepit beater written off for the insurance proceeds.

No. 2: Not an automatic theft
Faced with mounting repair bills on an aging car, a vehicle owner arranged to have it stolen. The ignition was altered, allowing the vehicle to start for the paid thief.

No. 3: No such address
A vehicle was written off after colliding with a deer near Thunder Bay. The vehicle owner provided a Winnipeg address and said he lived in an apartment with his wife, daughter and his sister.

He said he worked in Thunder Bay but insisted he returned to Winnipeg on weekends — a nine-hour, 400-km trip each way.

No. 4: Busy Cabbie
After being injured in a crash, the taxi cab driver began receiving income replacement payments. Over the next several months the cab driver was insistent that he was suffering from extreme pain and unable to return to work.

No. 5: Not so injured
A semi-trailer driver was passed by a car that threw up snow on his windshield and blocked his vision. The semi-trailer went off the road and into a ditch.

Unable to work due to injuries, the Winnipeg man began collecting income-replacement payments from MPI. After several months away from work, an investigation was opened by MPI investigators due to information received in a tip. Read more