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Anonymous tips to auto insurance fraud line lead to charges against Ontario woman

Aviva Canada said this week it’s pleased that Hamilton, Ont. police have laid charges against a woman for fraud, after following up on a tip the insurer received at the beginning of the year.

In February, Aviva’s Fraud Information Centre received an anonymous tip that its policyholder was not driving a vehicle involved in a collision as was reported to police. Instead, the daughter of the policyholder, Brenda Trembley, had been driving, Aviva says.

Another tip later in the investigation into the claim also validated that the daughter had been the driver, the insurer says.

“Aviva Canada’s investigation revealed that Ms. Trembley was not the driver at the time of collision and that she had coerced the driver of the other vehicle involved into going along with her story to cover for her uninsured daughter,” the company says.

“Furthermore, in order to obtain a cheaper premium, Ms. Trembley had committed underwriting fraud by deliberately not disclosing that her daughter, a licensed driver, resided in her household.”

After completing its investigation last July, Aviva turned its findings over to Hamilton Police, and on Dec. 5, Trembley, 49, was charged with obstructing justice and fraud over $5,000.

She is scheduled to appear before a Hamilton court on Jan. 15, 2015, according to Aviva. The charges have not been proven in court.

“Aviva Canada is extremely grateful to two callers to our Fraud Information Centre,” Gordon Rasbach, vice president of Aviva Canada’s Anti-Fraud unit said in a statement issued Monday.

“The influx of public tips like these really highlights the concern of consumers in protecting their insurance rates.”

Canadian Underwriter