Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Media and Insurance Awareness Committee has launched a campaign in collaboration with local insurance companies to increase public awareness about the penalties for tampering with information in vehicle or health insurance documents.

It said such action could result in imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of SR400,000.

The committee urged the general public to purchase insurance certificates from registered Saudi insurance companies or their authorized agents.

The committee’s spokesman Adel Al-Issa said any modification of information furnished in an insurance certificate would be considered forgery punishable under the Saudi law.

Article (13) of the Anti-Forgery Law stipulates that whoever forges commercial, financial or bank documents or insurance certificates shall be sentenced to 1 to 5 years in prison and a fine of SR400,000.

“The committee aims is to increase awareness among the members of the public and all pertinent sectors and ensure that all parties get equal benefits from insurance. We have caught several forgery cases where people paid bought insurance from unauthorized insurance agents who tampered with information about the insured and modified the amount of coverage to make it look greater in value without the knowledge of the insurance companies,” Al-Issa explained.

The campaign provides valuable tips and pieces of advice to the public and encourages them to get insurance certificates from authorized agents or directly from the insurance companies, he said.