The used car Tom McKinnick bought had a dent in the passenger door. He reported the preexisting damage to the other driver’s insurance. In doing this, Tom committed insurance fraud by?

Tom's action of reporting the preexisting damage as if it were newly sustained during the accident constitutes making a false statement of fact. In the world of insurance and claims, accuracy and honesty are crucial. When Tom conveyed that the dent was part of the accident he was involved in, he misrepresented the condition of his vehicle. This deliberate misstatement is what qualifies as insurance fraud, as it can mislead the insurance company into providing compensation for damages that were not caused by the accident in question.

The other scenarios involve different aspects of insurance fraud but do not precisely fit Tom's situation. Failing to disclose ownership would apply if he concealed personal interests in the vehicle itself, while exaggerating the value would involve inflating the worth of the car rather than misrepresenting its condition. Submitting a claim for a non-existent accident would mean claiming an event that never happened, rather than mischaracterizing existing damage. The focus in Tom's case lies on the distortion of factual information regarding the car's damage.