What is insurance fraud?
Insurance Fraud is the act of deceiving or misrepresenting material information for the purposes of profiting from the benefits of an insurance policy.
Examples of insurance fraud include:
- Submitting inflated estimates of damages on a legitimate loss
- Committing arson in order to collect insurance proceeds
- Staged accidents
- Submitting claims for items that were not damaged in a loss
- Withholding material information when applying for an insurance policy or when submitting a claim.
While the annual cost of insurance fraud is unknown, estimates suggest that it is the second largest economic crime in the United States, exceeded only by tax evasion. Unfortunately, the cost of this crime impacts all consumers in the form of higher insurance premiums and increased costs for other services.
How can I help stop it?
We need your help to stop insurance fraud! Remember, insurance fraud increases the cost of insurance for everyone, which means that the real victim of insurance crime is you!
If you suspect someone is committing insurance fraud, you can report suspected insurance fraud to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), a not-for-profit organization that receives support from over 1,000 property/casualty insurance companies. The NICB partners with insurers and law enforcement agencies to help identify, detect and prosecute insurance criminals.
The total cost of insurance fraud is estimated to be more than $40 billion per year.
Are you a victim?
The following organizations may be able to help:
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
