Make Sure You Have the Best Rhode Island Commercial Insurance Available to Prevent Fraud!
Workers compensation fraud is no trifling matter. Multiple instances of fraud can cripple a small business owner in Rhode Island. Rhode Island Commercial insurance and workers compensation policies aren’t cheap so it’s in every business owner’s interests to minimize the risk of claims for property damage and worker injury, and also to prevent fraudulent claims.
How do you prevent fraudulent claims? First you need to know the different ways someone can make a bogus workers compensation claim. These can include faking an injury at work, claiming a legitimate injury happened at work when it happened elsewhere, exaggerating the severity of a workplace injury or secretly working elsewhere while receiving workers’ compensation payments. Here are some tips to identifying potential fraudulent activity.
1. Disgruntled employees: A staff member who is not happy at work may be motivated to make a fake workplace injury claim. Consider why they may be unhappy and whether anything can be done to improve their situation.
2. Gaps in the story: When an employee’s recollection of a workplace injury is hazy or inconsistent, it may be because it never happened. Be aware of injury reports with vague details.
3. Doesn’t answer phone: This may mean a couple of things: The claimant wants to avoid you or the claimant is working another job while collecting compensation benefits.
4. Lack of witnesses. It’s not always the case but you may have reason to be suspicious if a worker claims a workplace injury but there are no witnesses to verify the story.
Naturally, any one of these factors alone doesn’t mean a claim is fraudulent. It’s important not to jump to conclusions when there is little by way of factual evidence to support your opinion. It’s not wise to air your suspicions to the injured worker or to their colleagues – instead, discuss the situation with your agent or insurer.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates that workers’ compensation fraud costs insurance carriers more than $5 billion dollars a year. Some of these costs are passed on to your Rhode Island commercial insurance policies.
