To set up a target: in Russia, the volume of casco fraud has skyrocketed

The amount of damage caused by casco fraud in 2025 doubled compared to the previous year and reached 1.95 billion rubles, the Russian Union of Motor Insurers (RSA) told Izvestia. At the beginning of 2026, the trend continued — losses from intruders increased by another 15%. Among the regions, the situation is particularly critical in Smolensk, followed by Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar and Novosibirsk, the insurers noted. If it does not improve, this may lead to higher prices for hard hats: conscientious customers will have to pay for criminals. How the authorities can strengthen the fight against fraud is in the Izvestia article.

How Casco Fraud Works

In Russia, the situation with casco fraud has sharply worsened. The amount of damage from such crimes doubled last year compared to the previous year and reached 1.95 billion rubles, RSA told Izvestia. At the beginning of 2026, the trend continued - losses increased by another 15% compared to the same period in 2025 and reached 491 million in the first quarter.

The average loss also increased — it increased by almost a third last year to 3.2 million rubles. Such large amounts are typical for total (complete destruction of a car), theft and numerous damages with a violation of the geometry of the body, the union clarified.

Market participants have confirmed a sharp increase in casco fraud. T-Insurance has recorded a doubling in 2025. Sovcombank Insurance received a similar increase. The number of such losses reached thousands last year, and this year the growth continued, the company said.

Igor Ivanov, Vice President of RESO-Garantia, agreed: there has been a significant increase in the first four months. Sogaz noted an overall 36% increase in the number of detected fake accidents in the first quarter of 2026.

The market situation is difficult, said Dmitry Durinov, Vice President for Corporate Security at Renaissance Insurance. The financial losses of the industry, according to various estimates, amount to 5-15% of the fees. In absolute terms, this amounts to billions of rubles annually, and CASCO is among the most vulnerable types of insurance.

— Fraudulent schemes in casco have common characteristics that distinguish them from real accidents — for example, station wagon models are most often used, accidents occur in sparsely populated places where there are no traffic cameras, and all vehicles crash into an obstacle exactly in the center of their longitudinal axis without any visible traces. (attempts to brake), and at the same time, the drivers have no injuries," said Mikhail Spivak, head of the Department for combating insurance fraud at T—Insurance.

In general, the basic scheme of CASCO fraud looks like this, said Vladimir Pashin, Director of Security at MAKS IC. A used premium car is bought abroad (often Chinese electric models). Then the car is imported to Russia and a policy is issued for it with an artificially and significantly inflated insurance amount (1.5–2.5 times the real market price). Then an "accident" is organized — as a rule, a collision with a stationary object or an entrance to a reservoir. The insurance company is required to pay for the total loss of the car. This is how the attackers make a profit that covers all expenses.

Most often, an unscrupulous customer keeps the remnants of a broken car for himself, repairs and resells the car, added Oleg Khizhnyak, director of the Rosgosstrakh Security Department. According to him, the main difficulty here is to prove intent in committing fraudulent acts.

Leftovers are not sweet: why insurers complain about cars from China

Insurance companies have included electric vehicles and hybrids in the list of threats.

Why casco may rise in price due to the growth of fraud

The situation has noticeably worsened in the Smolensk region. There has been a noticeable increase in hard hat accidents staged by fraudsters — the company has already registered 10 cases there recently, said Mikhail Spivak from T-Insurance. According to him, only the law enforcement agencies of the Moscow region and Moscow are currently showing a rapid experience in combating crimes, while the situation in Smolensk is sadder.

Market participants called Smolensk the leader in insurance fraud in casco. Earlier, the media reported that due to the increase in fraud in this region, insurers may even begin to refuse to sell hard hats.

In general, if a car or the driver of a car often gets into accidents and causes significant losses, then companies usually raise the tariff or refuse insurance, the RSA reported.

If we evaluate the regions by the number of applications submitted for fraudulent actions in CASCO, the organization clarified, then Moscow and the Moscow region always become the leaders, because there is the largest share of the car fleet in the Russian Federation. The second place is occupied by St. Petersburg, and the third is shared by the Krasnodar Territory and the Novosibirsk Region.

It is often those regions where there is a lot of fraud in CTP that become problematic, said Dmitry Durinov from Renaissance Insurance. He singled out Smolensk, Novosibirsk and Lipetsk. In Smolensk, there is indeed an increase in CTP crimes, Vladimir Pashin agreed. According to him, a set of measures is being developed jointly with law enforcement agencies to reduce unprofitability in the region.

The problem with casco fraud is reflected in the tariffs: all customers are starting to pay more, said Igor Ivanov from RESO-Garantia. Respectable citizens are to some extent forced to cross-subsidize insurance fraudsters, Oleg Khizhnyak explained.

Further active scaling of such schemes may lead to a 5% increase in prices for hard hat policies in the entire Russian car insurance market, including in Smolensk, T-Insurance predicts.

Market participants cited the situation in Novosibirsk as an example. Last year, a noticeable increase in the number of suspicious insurance claims for CTP was recorded in the region, including those related to staged road accidents and overstatement of damage. Through the joint efforts of insurers, courts and the local Ministry of Internal Affairs, the situation was resolved.

Action policy: sales of hull insurance with reduced coverage jumped by a third

In an attempt to save money, drivers often don't get protection against the most popular risks

How to combat fraud

Regulators and the police need to work together to fight organized criminal groups of fraudsters. But in particular, it is necessary to pay attention to the failure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Smolensk to fulfill its obligations, which do not respond to statements from insurers and do not investigate the activities of intruders, Mikhail Spivak believes.

Igor Ivanov agreed that it is necessary for law enforcement agencies to respond quickly and effectively to the appeals of companies. In his opinion, this will make insurance cheaper for car owners.

Currently, the percentage of criminal cases remains low. It is necessary to initiate them for each confirmed fraud, Oleg Ruchkin, head of the asset protection unit at VSK Insurance House, is also convinced. According to him, improving data exchange through the National Insurance Information System (NSIS) and creating unified risk indicators available to all insurers in real time will also help in the fight against intruders.

Currently, a significant problem for the industry is the lack of access to the information databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to detect signs of fraud and verify drivers' personal data. This hinders the detection of crimes and significantly increases the time required to form an evidence base, the RSA emphasized.

Market participants need to be given access to the city cameras "Safe city", "Web" and "Stream", explained employees of the Department of security "Consent". In addition, tougher penalties for insurance fraud are required with the introduction of real terms of imprisonment, as well as a lifetime ban on driving vehicles for citizens against whom fraudulent actions have been confirmed, the company is confident.

The initiatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Central Bank and the insurance community to tighten the fight against insurance fraud are now being actively discussed, Izvestia wrote earlier. According to Oleg Khizhnyak, their implementation will help combat insurance fraud and raise the "entry bar" into this illegal business. If the situation does not change, then, according to Igor Rastorguev, a leading analyst at AMarkets, insurers will continue to put risks into tariffs, which will lead to a new round of price increases.