Insurance Fraud
Fraudulent bodily injury
claims, enhanced damage claims and staged collisions are imposing
an
ever increasing toll upon insurers and their honest, premium paying
policy holders.
More than one third of
people hurt in auto accidents exaggerate their injuries.
This adds $13-$18 billion to America’s annual insurance bill, notes a study by the
Rand Institute
for Civil Justice.
Fraud Losses & Costs
Research on insurance fraud
indicates that fraud costs the entire American insurance industry
over
125 billion dollars per year. What this translates to the average
American family is an annual
EXTRA cost of $300 - $1,000 per
year.
Low-Risk Crime -
Insurance cheaters view
insurance fraud as a low-risk, high-reward game,
and far safer than drug
trafficking or armed robbery. Consider:
-
Six states still
don’t have specific insurance fraud laws, thus discouraging many
prosecutors
from tackling
tough fraud cases.
- Courts are getting tougher on convicted
schemers, but too often jail sentences still are light,
with courts
often reserving space in overcrowded prisons for people convicted of
more-violent
crimes.
- Professional
societies overseeing doctors and lawyers often are reluctant to
discipline peers
convicted
of insurance fraud.
Lynn Police / Insurance Fraud Bureau
Community Insurance Fraud Initiative
The Lynn Police Department is
taking aggressive enforcement action towards insurance fraud.
The
Lynn Police Department is assisting the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud
Bureau with the detection and prosecution of Insurance Fraud in Lynn.
Two IFB investigators and Officer Robert LeBlanc of the LPD Traffic
Department work together in detecting and prosecuting insurance fraud.
Insurance claims are studied
and accident reconstructions, prepared by insurance industry consultants
are reviewed and investigations conducted into possible insurance fraud
cases.
Most cases involve fraudulent
damage claims such as damage from hit and run collisions that either did
not occurred or the damage has been enhanced, and low speed collisions
resulting in exaggerated injury claims. These types of cases can be
detected by trained accident reconstructionists either retained by
insurance companies or police officers trained in this field. If fraud
is detected Officer LeBlanc applies for complaints in Lynn District
Court and the case is sent to District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s
office for prosecution.
What the citizens of Lynn can do
If you have any information regarding possible
insurance fraud in Lynn, please contact:
Officer
Robert LeBlanc
Lynn Police Traffic Department
781-593-1021
- or -
Insurance
Fraud Bureau
1-800 –32 -FRAUD (3-7283)
