You pay for insurance every month, and if something goes wrong with your policy, you get money. Most people don’t abuse them, but some try to make money off them. This leads to some crazy stories. I’ll tell you them right now, without waiting. I warn you, there is a lot to read, but it’s worth it.

1. In Slovenia, a woman cut her hand to get the insurance money

It happened recently: a 21-year-old woman, with the help of a 29-year-old family member, cut her hand with a circular saw and wanted to pass it off as an accident. Shortly before, she had taken out 5 insurance policies and expected to receive a total of 380,000 euros + 3000 euros per month for life. And of course, she got caught, because you shouldn’t take people for fools either. She and her accomplice are facing 8 years in prison. Fortunately, for her, they managed to sew up her hand.

2. In China, a man faked his death to collect insurance and caused the death of his entire family

This story is a true Shakespearean tragedy. In September 2018, Mr. He decided to fake his death to allow his wife to collect 125,000 euros from the life insurance. He faked a car accident by throwing his car into a river, and the authorities concluded that he was dead. Problem: he had not told his wife who was devastated by the death of her husband, having lost hope, she killed their two children before taking her own life in the same river. She wanted the family to be reunited in the afterlife. Upon hearing this, Mr. He went to the police. He explained that he had debts after paying for treatment for his epileptic daughter and wanted to pay them back. A real drama.

3. An Englishman faked his death and then got busted in Australia

Hugo and Sophie Sanchez, an English couple in debt, had a bad idea in 2005: they were going to pretend that the husband died during their vacations to get a lot of money from their travel insurance. Sophie will make-believe that Hugo has been cremated and will get the money. Meanwhile, he will go with the children to Australia. But the police prevented Sophie Sanchez from joining him because they found a detail that is not trivial: on the death certificate, they found fingerprints of her husband. Sophie Sanchez was on the plane for the departure, but she was arrested just in time, like in the movies. The investigation continued and Sophie confessed to the scam. Only years later, her husband was found in Sydney and extradited. He was doing his own thing with his children without much concern for his wife. This could be made into a movie.

4. Another English couple came up with the plan of the century without telling their children and lost everything because of Google

John and Anne Darwin were living beyond their means and had bought a dozen shacks, struggling to pay back their bank loans. In 2002, they decided to make believe that John died in the North Sea while canoeing. And it works. Anne plays the devastated widow and John lives in a secret room in the house. When he goes out, he dresses up to hide his identity. Their two sons don’t even know about it, they believe their father is really dead. Anne and John then decided to go to Panama, a tax haven from which they cannot be extradited. To obtain a passport, John had obtained the birth certificate of a child who died in 1950. Once in Panama, the couple had a good time and decided to invest their money. Everything could have continued quietly if John had not returned to England in 2007 to visit his son Mark. Everyone was moved by the reunion of a son and his father until someone found on Google a photo of John and Anne with a Panamanian real estate agent. the error. When Anne returns from Panama, she gets busted, and the couple goes on trial.

5. Two couples faked their burglary to get the cash

In 2012, in the Pyrenees-Orientales, two couples staged a fake burglary of their homes to report stolen items to insurance companies and pocket the money. The next morning, the victims were summoned, as is customary, except that they did not show up and only came in the afternoon to settle the insurance issues. The gendarmes find this a bit strange; normally the victims are a bit more involved in the investigation than this. They decide to look at surveillance cameras in the city and manage to see the burglars in action. Burglars that look like the victims. Let’s get it all out of here and into the courts.

6. Frenchman sets his car on fire for reimbursement and gets busted

In August 2018, the owner of a car files a complaint because it was set on fire. He explains that it was in new condition and worth 11,000 euros. So he wants to be reimbursed by his insurance. But the police discovered that he had made an estimate shortly before for a gearbox change. The estimate was 6.500 euros, a good amount. So we immediately understood the scam: the guy didn’t want to spend so much money on repairs and preferred to use the insurance. Further analysis of the car’s body even managed to prove that the gearbox was not in working order before the fire. The owner will be summoned to court in June 2019. He will really need a very good lawyer to get out of this illegal situation.

7. Guy sets fire to his bakery and makes a big mistake

Near Namur, the owner of a bakery that was unoccupied decided, with the help of his father and an accomplice, to burn down the establishment to get the insurance money (more than 380,000 euros in reimbursements) because he couldn’t sell it. It could have worked if the guys had not left the keys on the door. They also found an oil can leave in the room. The police soon realized the scheme. The owner was tried and thanks to his lawyer, he will only serve 7 years in prison.

8. The Yves Dandonneau case

This is one of the most famous insurance fraud cases in France. Hold on to your hats. In June 1987, Daniel Blouard and his friend Yves Dandonneau had a car accident on a small road in the Hérault region. Dandonneau is unconscious. Blouard called the fire department and told them he was afraid the car would catch fire. When the firemen arrive on the spot, it is too late: the car caught fire, and Dandonneau is burned. Dandonneau’s wife is called to recognize the body. She confirms: it is indeed Yves Dandonneau, it is indeed him who died.

Except that Dandonneau, two months earlier, had taken out 8 life insurance policies, all for the benefit of his partner. One of the 8 insurances found it strange because Dandonneau had established a special clause if he died in a car accident.

The insurance company sends a private detective to investigate the circumstances of the accident, and his conclusions are clear: this accident is very suspicious because there was nothing dangerous on that road. At the same time, an engineer from a police lab can determine that the charred body is not Dandonneau’s but a homeless alcoholic that they made drink before causing a car accident.

Dandonneau got 20 years in prison, his buddy Blouard got 14, his girlfriend got 4 years suspended. Justice was done.