Car Owners Attempt to Avoid Repossession by Destroying Their Cars

June 10th, 2009 by Reed Allmand

According to an article in the Star-Telegram, many desperate car owners facing financial problems and possible repossession are secretly destroying their vehicles and filing false insurance claims.

The article said:

…financially strapped car owners are torching, sinking or ditching their vehicles and then reporting them stolen to cash in on the insurance. SUVs have been found ablaze in the Nevada desert, cars have been dumped in a Miami canal and a BMW was discovered buried in a field in Texas. Some vehicles have been parked in the path of a hurricane.

Many car owners who are completely overwhelmed with pending foreclosures, delinquent credit cards and possible repossession, falsely believe that by secretly destroying their car and reporting it stolen is an easy way out of repossession and other financial troubles.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  If a car owner files a false insurance claim, he/she could face felony charges of insurance fraud, making false statements to police and insurance providers.  That means a possible prison term and an order to pay restitution.  And just in case you’re wondering, that restitution order would not be dischargeable in bankruptcy.

It’s sad to see car owners going to such desperate measures to avoid repossession when bankruptcy offers an easier and legal solution.  Dallas-Fort Worth residents facing repossession may be able to save their vehicle by filing bankruptcy.  To find out how you can stop repossession of your vehicle using bankruptcy, contact a Dallas-Fort Worth bankruptcy attorney today.

About Reed Allmand

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Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."

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