On November 27, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced that the final two defendants of a staged automobile accident scheme were sentenced.  Kara Lashon Collins and Stephanie Denise Moses were sentenced to 46 months and 12 months in federal prison.  Collins was ordered to pay $356,000 in restitution, and Moses was ordered to pay $95,000.  

The principal defendants, Frenchitt Su-Dell Collins and Alan Murray Robison, were sentenced to 15 years and 100 months in prison earlier in November.  Frenchitt Collins is Kara Collins’ husband and Robison’s half-brother.  Frenchitt was also ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution, and Robison was ordered to pay $203,000.  

According to court documents, the four defendants operated a scheme to defraud insurance companies like Hartford Lloyds Insurance Company, Travelers Insurance, GEICO Insurance Company, Nationwide Insurance Company, 21st Century Insurance Company, and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies.  People were recruited to stage accidents, and the defendants also stole identities from people including an Iraq war veteran and a school cafeteria worker.  The fraudulent insurance claims were submitted after the staged accidents and with fake identities.  

The defendants also created fake chiropractic clinics that submitted fraudulent medical records and bills to insurance companies.  The claims were submitted to private-pay property and casualty insurance carriers that settled claims on accidents solely according to fake documentation of property damage claims as well as fake medical records and bills.  The settlement checks were cashed by the defendants.  

Court documents further indicate that Frenchitt Collins and Alan Robison tried to tamper with a witness after they were arrested in May 2012.  The defendants tried to convince two witnesses to sign affidavits with information they believed would help the defense.  The witnesses would not sign the affidavits and turned over the false affidavits to the FBI.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

What is Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance is a type of insurance that will provide a traveller with coverage against monetary losses, obtained during the trip, and delayed or cancelled travel.

Furthermore, purchasing travel insurance will offer coverage for costs associated with medical expenses, financial hardships over travel suppliers and other losses that may incur while travelling. Travel insurance may be purchased by an individual travelling within his or her country or abroad; regardless of the location, the insurance policy provides coverage against any financial losses that occur as a result of travelling.
Similar to other insurance policies or types of coverage, travel insurance will be offered by competing travel insurance companies and their coordinating agents. In any competitive market, there is a great deal of diversity in regards to what situations are specifically covered or offered in a policy or product, to what extent the policy is offered and the overall price of the package.

As is common in all insurance markets, travel insurance companies will specialize in different aspects of coverage and will provide specific packages based on where the individual is travelling to, what mode of transportation they are using and the type of travel insurance offered.

Types of Travel Insurance:

In addition to a traditional travel insurance policy, an individual can purchase temporary or cheap travel insurance, which is usually arranged at the time the trip is booked. Temporary or cheap travel insurance will provide coverage for exactly the duration of the trip.

This form of cheap travel insurance is less extensive than continuous travel insurance, which can be purchased from travel agents (work for travel insurance companies) or directly from travel suppliers, such as tour operators or cruise lines. That being said, a comprehensive travel insurance package, purchased from a travel supplier, will tend to be less inclusive than a policy offered by an insurance company.
Travel insurance will often provide coverage to an assortment of travels; student travel, leisure travel, adventure travel, business travel, international travel and cruise travel are all options or forms of travel that can be covered by travel insurance.

Travel Insurance Reviews:

Travel insurance reviews are resources, typically offered online, that enable individuals to evaluate and price various travel insurance plans. Travel insurance reviews will evaluate all major travel insurance companies and their coordinating travel insurance policies; however, travel insurance reviews are limited in regards to their personalization and customization.

For example, single parents travelling with young kids do not need the same type of coverage as retirees vacationing on a cruise. Furthermore, a short summer vacation will require different coverage than a longer trip, such as living abroad. These characteristics play a crucial role in the evaluation of a plan’s effectiveness, because often times, the most suitable form of insurance is solely dependent on your particular trip.
Although a lack of personalization damages the true effectiveness of travel insurance reviews, it is still necessary to use the resource when deciding on purchasing a policy.  As a general tool, travel insurance reviews will tend to cater to larger companies, who are able to offer a wider array of protections and policies. Travel insurance companies aside, the following aspects are sought after and recommended for the following types of travel:

What kind of Travel Insurance do I need?

Best Travel Insurance Plans for Vacation or General Travel: Traveller should have a pre-existing condition waiver, financial default, trip interruption (up to 150% reimbursement for unused travel costs), medical coverage (min $25,000), baggage coverage (min $1,000), evacuation coverage (min $100,000)

Best Travel Insurance Plans for Family Travel: Coverage for children is free, medical coverage (min $25,000), repatriation coverage (enables the kids to travel home if parents are hospitalized) and ‘cancel for any reason’ available. 

Based on Travel Insurance Reviews, the two best and most comprehensive travel insurance policies for family travel are the Worldwide Trip Protector from Travel Insured International and the Gold Protect Assist plan from Travel Guard

What is Van Insurance?

Van insurance is a specialized form of auto insurance that is designed and offered specifically for owners of vans. This form of insurance is primarily purchased by shipping, transportation or service companies who frequently use vans to execute their day-to-day business model.