Korea Insurance Development Institute: "Increase in Medical Expenses for Minor Injury Patients Surpasses That of Severe Cases... Scientific Analysis Needed to Prevent Insurance Fraud"
Minor Injury Patient Costs: 390,000 Won to 901,000 Won; Severe Injury: 10.29 Million to 15.5 Million Won
Development Institute's "Injury Risk Analysis Report" Positively Influences Police Judgments
Over the past nine years, the increase in medical expenses for minor injury patients from automobile accidents was 3.6 times greater than the increase for those with severe injuries. Experts are calling for greater reliability by analyzing injury risk and the possibility of intentional accidents using scientific data.
On July 7, the Korea Insurance Development Institute announced that it had hosted the "Automobile Accident Insurance Fraud Prevention Seminar" at the Automobile Technology Research Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. The seminar's theme was "Engineering Analysis and Application Cases for Insurance Fraud Judgment." Around 70 participants from the Korea Insurance Development Institute, Korea Road Traffic Authority, Financial Services Commission, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, police, Financial Supervisory Service, insurance companies, and university hospitals attended to exchange information related to insurance fraud.
According to the presentation on "Application Cases of Injury Risk Analysis for Minor Accident Passengers" by the Korea Insurance Development Institute, the average medical expense for minor injury patients in 2024 was 901,000 won, more than double the 392,000 won recorded in 2015. During the same period, the average medical expense for severe injury patients increased from 10.29 million won to 15.5 million won. Thus, the increase for minor injury patients was greater.
The Korea Insurance Development Institute stated that, in order to prevent insurance payout leakage due to excessive medical treatment for minor accident victims, it has conducted various minor accident collision reenactment tests since 2015 and has been providing injury risk analysis reports to the police, insurance companies, and others. In 316 lawsuits where the injury risk analysis report was used, 96% resulted in a judgment of "no causality" or "insurance payout adjustment."
An official from the Korea Insurance Development Institute emphasized, "By utilizing engineering analysis results in minor accident cases, we can rationalize the payment of personal insurance benefits and protect the rights and interests of good-faith insurance consumers."
Following this, there were presentations on: ▲ "Intentional Accident Analysis Techniques and Cases" by the Korea Road Traffic Authority, ▲ "Trends in Domestic and International Safety Standards and Extracted Information for Event Data Recorders (EDR)" by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority’s Automobile Safety Research Institute, and ▲ "Cases of Using Engineering Analysis Results in Investigations" by the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency presented cases where injury risk analysis reports were used to determine whether minor accident passengers were injured, as well as cases where intentional accidents were referred to prosecutors based on accident video analysis results.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency stated, "The injury risk analysis report from the Korea Insurance Development Institute has been used as objective evidence to judge the causality between the accident and the injury in cases where, according to the victim’s claims, demerit points could be imposed on the at-fault driver. This has helped prevent unjust imposition of driver’s license demerit points."
Heo Chang-eon, President of the Korea Insurance Development Institute, commented, "For injury risk or intentional accident analysis results to be reliable, it is important to base accident analysis on scientific data," adding, "I hope this seminar will contribute to preventing insurance fraud by providing a platform for the exchange and cooperation of information related to insurance fraud among participants."
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