Insurance policy pricing is based upon many variables. For instance, let's take your automobile policy. The company wants to know how old the driver is, his/her marital status, and how many tickets and accidents he/she has on his/her driving records. Why? Well, because an 18-year-old single male has a much higher statistical probability of being involved in an accident than does a 43-year-old married male. Plus, every time that you get a ticket or have an accident, you become more of a "risk," and that claim probability goes up yet farther.

Or perhaps you own a business. When you buy your worker's compensation insurance to cover your employees, you'll pay less if you have only 20 inside clerical workers than if you have 20 high-rise window washers.

The entire insurance rating structure is based upon statistics of probability, which are then used to determine future rates.

In a perfect world everyone would tell the truth and we would all pay our fair price. Likewise, in a perfect world, everyone would pay the set price for shoes, DVDs, books and clothes instead of simply shoplifting those items and making the rest of us pick up the cost.

When someone lies on an application for insurance, such as, by not naming all the drivers in the household, or lying about the number of miles they drive each year, it's very nearly the same as outright thievery from the rest of us. They might just as easily plunge their hand into our wallet or purse and just take our money. We pay for their fraud.

Insurance companies get a bad rap. People are quick to say, "Oh, those darn insurance companies. They are just a bunch of crooks." Those people need to understand that it's not the insurance companies that act dishonestly; it's the people who lie to avoid paying their fair share that are the real crooks.

Fight back, America.

Report any and all instances of fraud that you encounter.

Keep YOUR money in YOUR pocket.