The industry ombudsman has backed Youi’s finding that a vehicle damage claim was made fraudulently by a motorist who purchased insurance about 10 minutes after a crash. 

Records showed the driver contacted Youi at 8.47am on May 12 last year to buy a car policy, and the transaction was completed about 30 minutes later.  

About an hour later, he filed a claim for a collision with another car.

The insurer rejected it, suspecting the incident occurred before the policy was purchased. It noted metadata from photos provided by the other driver indicated they were taken at 8.41am and 8.53am. The claimant provided photos stamped 9.38am and 9.40am.  

Both sets of images featured an unrelated silver car in the background, suggesting they were taken about the same time.

The insurer said the claimant tried to avoid providing original photos, initially sending a screenshot and later submitting an image of a computer screen showing the pictures.

In its dispute ruling, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority finds both sets of photos would have been taken at similar times and the metadata on one had been altered.  

It is more likely the complainant changed the metadata, AFCA says. He had a motive to do so because he was uninsured until 9.15am.  

Pictures provided by a tow truck driver who collected the vehicles were stamped 9.21am, consistent with the other driver’s timeline.  

AFCA also notes the complainant submitted a towing authority form with the pick-up time altered. 

“If I was to accept the complainant’s arguments, it would mean the collision occurred less than 23 minutes after the policy was issued and that both the driver of the other car and the tow truck drivers’ phones had the wrong times or had the metadata altered,” an ombudsman said.  

“I find this to be very unlikely. Accordingly, I agree the claim has been made fraudulently and the insurer is entitled to decline the claim.”  

See the ruling here.

From the latest Insurance News magazine: "Weird things are going to start happening." How to prepare for Q-Day – the quantum leap in computing power that has cybercriminals licking their lips