Legal Issues Fraud is misrepresentation of a material (important) fact with intent to deceive another person or company. People who claim to own assets that they did not purchase and then report them lost or stolen are committing insurance fraud. Or they may claim their vehicle or property was stolen and damaged just to collect insurance. Fraud is a serious crime (felony). Insurance companies investigate claims to be certain that people who file them legitimately owned those items or that the property was actually stolen and/or damaged. Do you know someone who filed a false insurance claim? How can keeping good records, such as a personal property inventory, protect you from being accused of insurance fraud? What other types of records do you think would be helpful in resolving insurance claims?