We’re streaming live video of Senator James Seward’s public hearing on no-fault auto insurance reform. You can watch the entire hearing here or join us in person at the Senate Hearing Room, 250 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, New York.
Insurance industry studies indicate 10 percent or more of property/casualty insurance claims are fraudulent. And fraud is the second most costly white-collar crime in America behind tax evasion. Add it all up and insurance fraud costs Americans billions of dollars each year. Not only does fraud cause higher insurance rates, but it also raises our taxes and inflates prices for consumer goods.
An increase in auto insurance fraud helped push New York’s already sky-high rates up 4% last year, the Daily News has learned: “The Legislature must ensure the Health Department moves to crack down on criminal doctors, and give prosecutors powerful new tools to go after …those who stage accidents.” New York drivers face the third-highest [...]
From the end of 2004 to the third quarter 2010, claims costs rose an astounding 49.5 percent. No-fault fraud and abuse cost consumers and insurers about $241 million in 2010, a cost that was imposed on all drivers in the form of higher premiums.
… And participate in this wonderful democracy of ours… If you’re a New York City area driver, you pay a lot for auto insurance. More than the rest of the state. And if you’re near 250 Broadway between 10AM and 3PM on April 26th, you can change that. Imagine paying a lot less for auto [...]
Almost nine in 10 suspected health care fraud cases in New York last year came from no-fault auto injury claims, a cottage industry so rife with abuse that the state Insurance Department wants to tighten regulations. Related Fraud Bureau investigations led to 159 arrests in 2010, including a Schenectady man who filed a no-fault claim, collected $5,300 for lost wages and was charged with insurance fraud and falsifying business records, the department said.
Part of the solution involves amending the statutes so that unethical lawyers cannot file and receive excessive payment for false claims.
Their first attempt at deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another on a Bronx street last summer did not sufficiently damage the cars. So the suspects – nine of them spread out in three vehicles – tried again, this time backing into each other in what the authorities say was a criminal version of demolition derby. When the car crashes were through, the suspects called the police to have accident reports logged. They all sought $39,000 worth of medical treatment for various injuries they claimed to have suffered.
He witnessed a truck crash — but really saw a huge payday, cops said. A Bronx driver reaped an insurance windfall by pretending he was involved in a wreck between a tractor-trailer and a car near the Triborough Bridge — but surveillance video caught him in his lie.
