Driver's Lo-jack Device Turns Him In

Some people have been known to stoop to committing a crime just to make a quick buck. One issue that is popping up in California is people reporting their cars stolen when they have not been stolen at all. Drivers think that they can just put their car somewhere else or park it in a bad neighborhood and then poof it will be magically stolen or will never be recovered by the police.
The criminals think that what they are doing is not that bad because they own their vehicles and they bought their own auto insurance coverage. One man ended up finding out the hard way that crime does not pay at all. Committing this kind of crime can lead to jail time.
Many criminals do this because they just want access to money. For example, if someone is having car problems that require thousands or even hundreds of dollars in repairs then they may stage a fake car theft as a way to cut their financial losses, file an auto insurance claim, and collect the money to get a new vehicle.
A man from San Bernadino County in California allegedly worked with some of his own relatives to commit the alleged insurance fraud. The man stashed his vehicle behind a house and then asked his relatives to drop him off somewhere else so that he could file an insurance claim with his insurance company.
The one issue that he ended up encountering with his shady and criminal plot was that lo-jack had been installed on his vehicle. Once the car was reported stolen, the company was called to try and recover the vehicle.
The authorities were dispatched to the man’s house where they found and recovered the vehicle. A lo-jack employee said that she had never heard of anyone actually having their own device end up turning them in for car insurance fraud.
This is a very serious matter because it is happening all the time. People who have car payments that are behind or who are unable to pay their bills often get a collision or comprehensive insurance policy on their vehicle before staging its theft. They think that they will be able to pull a fast one.
Many vehicles now have On Star or lo-jack installed in them straight from the factory so that they can be recovered in the event of an auto theft. Auto insurance companies have often been grateful for these devices because they have saved them millions of dollars in claims.
For example, some anti-theft devices actually will stop the car engine from starting again after it has been stolen. This has benefited police officers who have been involved in high speed pursuits with people who have stolen vehicles. If a vehicle can be quickly disabled then it cannot be used as a weapon against the police and innocent bystanders.
Every time that someone decides to report their car stolen when it has not been, it hurts the insurance company and its policy holders. It also wastes the time of the police officers who will be looking for the vehicle to see if they can recover it. Many people have gotten into trouble with police officers for filing fake police reports for stolen vehicles. It costs the tax payers money.
The fact that this man did not remember that there was a lo-jack device on his car before he decided to report it missing and stolen is one that many people will be laughing about but it is very serious.
When people such as relatives decided to help people commit insurance fraud it can become a huge legal issue. This is because the people who were involved could be deemed co-conspirators by the court.
One issue that many drivers face is that they cannot pay their car payments any more because of becoming unemployed or the fact that they just cannot handle the financial burden any more. It is important for these drivers to be able to reach out to their financial lenders and get help. Committing a crime and reporting your car stolen fraudulently can only lead to hot water which is what this man is enduring now.
When an auto insurance company sees that someone has committed auto insurance fraud, they will probably deny them insurance coverage ever again. This can prove to be a huge penalty for people who need a car to survive. Some places do not have easy access to cabs, buses, and other forms of public transportation.
Hopefully, other drivers will learn a lesson from this man’s experiences. Trying to commit a crime to get money is not something that is morally or legally right. Hopefully, all car manufacturers will install anti-theft devices such as lo-jack in the future to prevent similar occurrences of insurance fraud.