For this reason, you should retain the services of an experienced Michigan fraud defense lawyer if you’re facing insurance fraud charges—your future could depend on it.
Michigan Penal Code section 500.4503 outlines several forms of insurance fraud and provides guidelines for the conduct of policyholders, insurance companies, and their agents. It’s illegal to knowingly and willfully assist someone to break any of the rules described below, or to even benefit from someone’s breaking of the rules.
It’s Fraudulent to Misstate Material Facts in an Insurance Application
It is illegal to knowingly make a false statement of material fact—whether oral or written—in an application for insurance to an agent, insurer, reinsurer, or broker with the intent to injure or deceive. It’s even illegal to assist, abet, solicit, or conspire with another to make false statements of material fact in an insurance application.
What this means is that you can’t change or omit important facts about yourself when you apply for insurance. For example, if you’re a smoker or if you enjoy extreme sports, you must be honest about it in your application. These kinds of facts are “material” because they might influence the insurer’s decision about whether to cover you or not.
Misstating Material Facts in an Insurance Claim is Fraud
Section 500.4503 prohibits knowingly making false statements of material fact in a claim for payment of an insurance benefit with the intent to injure, deceive, or defraud. Similarly, it’s illegal to assist, abet, solicit, or conspire with another to make false statements of material fact in an insurance claim.
A lot of fraud happens at the level of insurance claims—that’s why insurance companies hire investigators to closely examine each and every claim they receive against all available evidence. Not only is misstating a material fact illegal, it will result in the claim being denied.
When it comes to insurance claims, material facts are those that might influence the insurance company’s decision to compensate you for your damages. For example, if you crash your car, you would be misstating a material fact if you claimed that you were the victim of a hit and run accident.
