ICBC is sharing surveillance video of a bystander allegedly faking an injury following a fender bender in a parking lot.
The video, which was recorded in October 2017, shows a minivan rolling backwards and scraping against a second vehicle. Moments later, a man can be seen walking into frame and falling to the ground beside the accident scene.
"A crash had happened in the parking lot and this person that was walking by decided to seize this opportunity as a potential fraudulent claim," ICBC spokesperson Joanna Linsangan said.
The man later filed a claim alleging he had been pinned under a vehicle for 20 seconds and suffered a fracture on his right foot, according to ICBC.
Fortunately, a security guard found the surveillance video and turned it over to the public insurer. Linsangan said the short clip speaks for itself.
"This person was clearly not injured during the crash. It showed that he placed himself under the vehicle after the fact," she told CTV News.
Linsangan said the incident draws attention to a broader issue of what ICBC classifies as "soft fraud" or "opportunistic fraud," which is when someone takes advantage of an unexpected situation for a payout.
"Perhaps it's when they're a passenger in a vehicle that got into a crash and they say they've received injury when that's certainly not the case," she said. "Or in this special circumstance, literally throwing yourself underneath a vehicle to potentially submit a fraudulent claim."
ICBC contacted the man after reviewing the surveillance video, and said he abandoned the claim. Had he pushed on, Linsangan said ICBC would have pursued criminal charges that could have resulted in jail time.
Linsangan couldn't confirm just how common "soft fraud" is in the system, but noted that ICBC has been cracking down on fraudulent claims through its special investigations unit, which has increased from 60 staff members to 126.
