The Personal Insurance - Airbag fraud

With airbags now coming standard in most new cars, airbag fraud is an emerging trend. Airbags are quite costly to replace and re-install, so if someone brings a car in for minor repairs after a minor fender-bender, a dishonest body shop can easily inflate the price of the repair by making it seem like the airbag deployed.

A crooked repair shop can bill the insurance company $2,000 or more for a new airbag. If you’re lucky, they pocket the money and leave your airbag alone. A more greedy outfit might take your perfectly good airbag, sell it on the black market, and fill your airbag space with old rags, cardboard or beer cans. More likely, they will leave you with a stolen, previously deployed or salvaged airbag. You won’t know the difference until you are in an accident, but your family will be put at risk.*

To avoid this risk, The Personal recommends that their customers take advantage of their “Certified Preferred Suppliers” and be protected with a lifetime guarantee on repair and workmanship. Not insured with The Personal? Call 1 888 476-8737 for a quote or go online at www.thepersonal.com/mycreditunion.

*Source: Insurance Bureau of Canada