“the application would ask if there are any incidents they are aware of that could cause a claim, if they answered no they have committed fraud.”
Of course one would have to be able to prove the intent to commit fraud - to crawl behind each and every application. Practically speaking, there would be no reason to investigate an application’s veracity until the claim was made. The insurance company is all too glad to accept the premium payments with a big smile without “investing” in the cost of detailed investigating of every application for fraud before a claim is made. I won’t leave out the possibility with technology today they might have a rapid, low cost screening process on the individual. They will instead send the insured friendly premium due reminders or help them to set up auto-draft payments. Once a claim is made, they will protect their interests and investigate according to an internal criteria/checklist for spotting fraud.
And now we are dealing with the FBI. Until Judge Sullivan’s actual stupidity in (not) quickly dismissing the Flynn case, these revelations have made the insurance companies’ job much easier in the fraud department for these individuals. I remain skeptical the insurance company would have been able to penetrate fortress FBI to get at these cell phone records in the process of verifying the these agents’ applications.