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Insurance companies investigate a slew of potential insurance fraud cases every single year—which is what makes it difficult, at times, for the honest to successfully receive a payout on their claims. Believe it, or not, everyday people just like you concoct some highly outrageous schemes to score unearned cash and sometimes get away with it.

Sometimes, being the key word there! Let us present exhibits A, B, and C.

A.      A Successful Art Heist Goes Awry 

In 2007, an art collector by the name of Jason Sheedy packed up his entire collection of fine art and collectibles—valued at around $275,000—into a van outside of his home in St. Paul, Minnesota. Claiming to his insurance company—AXA Art Insurance Corp—that a thief had cut the padlock on the van and made off with the small fortune, Sheedy successfully collected more than $250,000.

That’s right, he completely got away with it.

Unfortunately, a few years later in 2011, Sheedy misguidedly decided to try and make a little more cash and put the “stolen” art up for auction on ArtBrokerage.com—a website frequented by the good people over at AXA Art Insurance Corp. Needless to say, they took notice and probably said something like, “Heeeyy…,” or so we imagine.

B.      Hollywood-Inspired Diamond Dealings

Our next blunder was concocted by two diamond dealers from New York who allegedly cooked up their scheme after drawing inspiration from the movie Snatch!

With a failing business weighing heavy on their finances, these two decided to steal their own inventory, blame it on burglars, and then sail off into the sunset with a nice insurance check, free of any further financial woe, their pockets filled with diamonds.

Unfortunately, these two tricksters failed to read “Con Artists 101” and didn’t disable their own security cameras before the big night. Everything was caught on tape, including the two shop owners removing their own inventory before the burglars arrive, as well as the hired burglars being buzzed in to steal the replaced empty boxes. Oops.

C.      Self-Inflicted Personal Injury Suites

Initially reported by the U.K.’s Financial News, a 16-year veteran of the personal injury trickster trade was finally caught after it was determined that his most recent claim was completely bogus. The man claimed that he’d been shot in the chest by a shopkeeper after being falsely accused of being a thief.

Once it was determined that the man was lying—you’d think he’d be better at it after 16 years—he further confessed to several other cases of personal injury fraud, including: being stabbed by a family member back in 2004, sustaining injury from an air rifle in 1995, and slipping on the floor of a public bathroom in Wales.

Wouldn’t it have been easier—not to mention safer—to just get a job?

This post was brought to you by Suncorp Life Insurance. While the stories mentioned above may seem unbelievable, they all actually happened. It’s important that you make an educated decision when making an important decision, like considering life insurance. Find out more at suncorp’s website, to learn more about what’s involved & make the right decision.

The following is sponsored content. 

With the start of the academic year, comes the beginning of the financial future for many students.
For those starting out on university life, there are some tips they all need to be armed with; and for
those going back for second or third year a little refresh wouldn’t do any harm.

Think about savings

If you’ve been working throughout the summer, you may be heading off with some funds; of if
you’re lucky enough your family members may be feeling generous. Rather than just placing these in
your student bank account to be frittered away, look into opening a savings account. This could be
anything from an easy access savings account to a fixed rate cash ISA. It may sound like the last thing
you want to do, but you’re going to need money down the line.

Budget

Yes you’ve just started univeristy life. Freshmen week is in full swing and there are loads of parties to go to
and nights out spending your new student loan. Budgeting may seem like the last thing you want to
do and the most boring, but you do need to learn to live on a shoestring. Make weekly and monthly
budgets and stick to it.

You also need to be careful with your card. It’s too easy to just pay for everything without the need
for carrying cash; but it’s much easier to keep track of things when you pay for things in cash. If
you’re off on a night out, take what you’re willing to spend and leave the card at home. We all know
how tempting a round of Jager bombs can be when you’ve got the plastic in the pocket.

You don’t need a car

Rolling out of halls with your hair wet at ten to nine and jumping in your car to make an early lecture
sounds like the easiest thing in the world. It may be, but having a car at uni can be costly. There’s
insurance to think of, road tax and the ever increasing cost of petrol. Most university cities offer
great deals on student transport – you’d be foolish not to use them.

Whilst we’re on the subject of travel always make use of what’s available to you. Travelling home on
the train can be expensive. With a young person’s railcard, however, you can save up to a third on
fares. Available until the age of 25, it’s an essential student money tip.

Understand your tax benefits

Everyone says that students don’t pay tax, but if you’re working as well you may have to. If you’ve
earn over £8,105 in the current tax year you’ll be required to pay income tax, as well as national
insurance contributions (NICs) if you earn over £146 per week. If you only work in the holidays
though and you earn under this threshold you aren’t liable to pay tax. Always make sure you keep on
top of this.

The following is a sponsored post. 

For most people the last few years have not been easy and as a result, how we treat our money is
more important than ever before. Many people have lost confidence in what could be perceived as
the riskier option of investing, so now the question is ‘what do we do with our savings?’ The answer
for lots of people seems to lie in going back to basics and opting for good old-fashioned savings
accounts. If this is the route you choose the next step is deciding on the ‘right’ savings account.

Check your options

There are now so many out there it can be difficult to know which way to turn and which bank or
building society to trust with your hard earned cash. Each one is ‘tailored’ for a specific plan or
income and claims to be a high interest savings account. However, just because on the surface, it
seems to pay the highest rate of interest, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it’s the best option. The
clever saver must look beyond the big fat rate and consider their specific situation. Your account
may well offer 4% but often these higher rates are for those who can specifically save weekly or
monthly and so this account may not be for you.

Check the rate

It is important to make sure that the rate you see advertised in big bold letters is the rate you will
actually be receiving, as sometimes the advertised rate includes the money you might make from
the ‘introductory bonus’. If you do choose an account with a starting bonus it’s worth bearing in
mind that when the bonus ends you may end up on a pretty low rate.

Therefore you will either find yourself having to move to yet another savings account or worse still,
you forget when the bonus term ends and your hard earned cash, sits languishing in an extremely
low paying account, washing away any bonus you may have benefited for. Ask yourself if you will
take the time to monitor when the bonus ends and take action and if the answer is no, perhaps
looking at accounts with great rates but with bonuses is the better option for you.

Check the small print

Always check the small print on these accounts and find out what the restrictions are. For example
some terms and conditions may stipulate that you earn no interest at all for the month when you
take money out of your account. There may also be limits on the number of times you can take
money out each year. If you do need to get at your money now, then you do have options in easy
access savings accounts which will allow you to save a chunk of money which gives access after a
certain amount of time (this ensures that you will accumulate interest after a period of time).

There are lots of options out there but it is important to take your own personal financial situation
and weekly or monthly spending into account when choosing.

The following is a sponsored post. 

Saving money makes sense. Whether that is saving money with coupons at the grocery store, or saving money by getting a low interest credit card, we all like to save money. The same applies for life insurance – there is no point paying more when you could be paying less.

Perhaps life insurance is something you hadn’t really thought about. Perhaps it’s something you have been meaning to get round to. One thing’s for sure, life insurance can offer valuable protection – and as soon as you start accumulating debts (think mortgage, car loans, personal loans) and your life gets more complicated (think kids), it should be time to start thinking about what protection you need.

So, how can we go about saving some money on life insurance? Well, one big way to save is by going online. Here are some online money-saving tips to get you started.

Compare, Compare, Compare

Welcome to the world of online comparisons! There are comparison sites for pretty much everything now, from finance stuff to shoe shopping. This is one huge advantage of shopping online – you can see everything that is available, and compare it side-by-side. Use a comparison site when you are buying life insurance, and you’ll find it much easier to narrow down your options. Once you have a shortlist, then you can start getting into more detail. Alternatively, you can start out by visiting the leading providers for a quote. For example, to visit GIO insurance, where they can provide a quote.

Know What You’re Talking About

Insurance in general can be difficult to get your head around, so it pays to do a little research. Find out more by reading blogs or insurance websites to see what kind of life insurance products are available, and what will be most suitable for you. Once you know more about what’s out there and what you need, it’s much more likely that you will get a policy that suits you – and at the best price.

Do Some Detective Work

Find out what everyone else is saying! Check out forums to see what people are saying about different insurance providers and the life insurance products available. This should give you a better idea about what you will really get from a certain policy, and whether choosing a certain insurer will offer value for money. You may also be able to find out where you can get the best discounts, and if there are any special deals around.

Get The Deals

Simply by buying online, you will find that you can save money. Running a company online is much cheaper than running a bricks and mortar business, which means many companies want to move their business into the online sphere. In order to encourage their customers, they will often offer discounts for buying online. You may find that you can get cashback every few years on your policy, you may get a few months free in the year, or you could get a percentage discount on your policy price. Easy!

Use An Online Calculator

You will find online calculators everywhere once you start looking. They have become hugely popular recently, and for good reason. When it comes to life insurance calculators, you can find out how much you can afford to pay each month on premiums, as well as helping you to work out what level of cover you actually need. If you find that you still can’t get the answers you need, it could be a good idea to speak to a financial adviser. You can often find good financial advice without it costing too much, it just means looking around for it.

Choosing life insurance doesn’t need to be a chore – especially when you are looking online. Buying online can make it much easier and quicker to find what you are looking for, and you may even be able to save a few bucks as well. Just remember to always read the small print so you know exactly what you are getting.