Insurance Broker Association of Alberta warns about the fraudulent ‘ghost brokers’

On busy roads, collisions could happen at any moment. That’s why we have insurance. But imagine going to submit a claim and finding out that the pink slip is a fake.

“And it’s a prime opportunity for people to take advantage,” said Caleb Maksymchuk, the president of the Insurance Broker Association of Alberta.

The Insurance Broker Association of Alberta is warning of so called ‘ghost brokers’.

Someone will buy auto insurance, believing they are working with a legitimate broker offering them cheaper insurance, but when they go to submit a claim, they are unable to reach their provider, because they were fraudulent.

Insurance experts are noticing that scammers are targeting certain groups.

“People that haven’t been in the system for a long time or new to Alberta, and it could be even people that are new to Canada, and the primary target is always on social media,” explained Maksymchuk.

In a statement to CityNews, Alberta’s superintendent of insurance warns the invalid insurance policy “could lead to some financial and legal consequences for consumers, including denied claims, cancelled policies and significant liability in the event of an accident.”

“This could lead to some financial and legal consequences for consumers, including denied claims, cancelled policies and significant liability in the event of an accident,” said Chris Merriman, superintendent of insurance.

Maksymhuk says there are some red flags to consider and tools to find a difference between a fraudulent and a legitimate insurance broker.

“If there are people who are asking for money upfront and quickly and they want that money right away to secure the policy, that’s a huge red flag just about anything else … using the Alberta Insurance Council or AIC to look up those agents and look up those insurance companies to make sure they are operating in Alberta.”