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Deterring Fraud: The Role of General Damage Awards in Automobile Insurance Settlements

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  • David S. Loughran

Abstract

Awards for pain and suffering and other noneconomic losses account for over half of all damages awarded under third‐party auto insurance bodily injury settlements. This article hypothesizes that third‐party insurers use general damage awards to reduce the incentive to submit exaggerated claims for specific damages for injuries and lost wages. Consistent with this hypothesis, the article finds evidence using data on over 17,000 closed bodily injury claims that special damage claims that exceed their expected value receive proportionally lower general damage awards than claims that do not. Among the implications of this research is the possibility that insurers will be less zealous in challenging fraudulent special damage claims under a third‐party insurance regime than they will be under a first‐party insurance regime in which access to general damages is limited.

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  • David S. Loughran, 2005. "Deterring Fraud: The Role of General Damage Awards in Automobile Insurance Settlements," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 551-575, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jrinsu:v:72:y:2005:i:4:p:551-575
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6975.2005.00138.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bond, Eric W. & Crocker, Keith J., 1997. "Hardball and the soft touch: The economics of optimal insurance contracts with costly state verification and endogenous monitoring costs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 239-264, January.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Dionne, Georges, 2012. "The empirical measure of information problems with emphasis on insurance fraud and dynamic data," Working Papers 12-10, HEC Montreal, Canada Research Chair in Risk Management.
    2. Lu-Ming Tseng & Yue-Min Kang, 2014. "The influences of sales compensations, management stringency and ethical evaluations on product recommendations made by insurance brokers," Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(1), pages 26-42, February.
    3. Eling, Martin & Jia, Ruo, 2018. "Business failure, efficiency, and volatility: Evidence from the European insurance industry," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 58-76.
    4. Richard A. Derrig & Daniel J. Johnston & Elizabeth A. Sprinkel, 2006. "Auto Insurance Fraud: Measurements and Efforts to Combat It," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 9(2), pages 109-130, September.
    5. Hunsoo Kim & W. Jean Kwon, 2006. "A Multi‐Line Insurance Fraud Recognition System: A Government‐Led Approach in Korea," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 9(2), pages 131-147, September.
    6. Brian Richman & Sharon Tennyson, 2022. "The effects of state legal environments on automobile insurance claims and compensation: Evidence from the Royal Globe doctrine," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 25(4), pages 491-513, December.
    7. Lu Li & Richard Peter, 2021. "Should we do more when we know less? The effect of technology risk on optimal effort," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(3), pages 695-725, September.
    8. Andrea Gallice, 2012. "Strategic announcements of reference points in disputes and litigations," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 279, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    9. Mercedes Ayuso & Miguel Santolino, 2012. "Forecasting the Maximum Compensation Offer in the Automobile BI Claims Negotiation Process," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 663-676, September.
    10. Danielle E. Warren & Maurice E. Schweitzer, 2018. "When Lying Does Not Pay: How Experts Detect Insurance Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 711-726, July.
    11. Scalera Domenico & Zazzaro Alberto, 2007. "The Unpleasant Effects of Price Deregulation in the European Third-Party Motor Insurance Market: A Theoretical Framework," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-30, October.
    12. Mercedes Ayuso(universitat de Barcelona) & Miguel Santolino(Universitat de Barcelona), 2009. "Individual prediction of automobile bodily injury claims liabilities," Working Papers in Economics 220, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    13. Tajudeen Olalekan Yusuf & Sunday Stephen Ajemunigbohun & Gbenga Noah Alli, 2017. "A Critical Review of Insurance Claims Management: A Study of Selected Insurance Companies in Nigeria," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 67(2), pages 69-84, April-Jun.

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