Albertans beware: Fudging an insurance claim will result in the loss of even legitimate damages.
The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled Monday that trying to defraud your insurer to pay for extra coverage will negate the entire policy.
A three-member appeal court panel upheld a lower court decision that found Calgarian Ali Alreda Abbas wasn’t entitled to any coverage from Esurance Insurance Company of Canada.
The judges said Court of King’s Bench Justice Barbara Johnston was correct in overturning a decision that said the company had to cover Abbas for part of his claim.
Abbas was injured as a passenger in a car being driven by an uninsured driver.
As a result, Esurance was obligated to cover him for physical injuries covered in the crash.
But in his claim, Abbas also sought coverage for lost wages. The only problem: Abbas lied about his employment.
“The insured admitted that he lied in the form that he filed to support his application,” wrote Justice Jack Watson and Justice Thomas Wakeling, in penning their written decision.
Justice Jolaine Antonio wrote a separate decision, but concurred with her fellow judges that the appeal should be dismissed.
The judges said a section of the Insurance Act allows insurers to refuse any coverage where fraud is attempted.
In their decision, Watson and Wakeling said granting Abbas coverage for the legitimate portion of his claim “would encourage fraudsters to make false claims...
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