The Cost of Insurance Fraud

ByTravis Giella

Courtesy of iii.org

The cost of insurance fraud is a cost all policyholders wind up paying. Consider that fraud adds about $34 billion each year to the property/casualty insurance sector’s incurred losses in the U.S. That equates to about 10 percent of the cost of insurance. The victims of this fraud are…..everyone.

Florida CFO Jeff Atwater heads the state’s Bureau of Insurance Fraud, which consists of 117 sworn officers plus support staff. He’s been championing fraud awareness and recently published a newsletter with a story about an Orange County man who paid someone to torch his car. This person filed an insurance claim, got paid, got found out – and got jail time. The newsletter said the arson claim cost the insurance company $10,000, and it may cost the perpetrator up to 20 years in jail.

The state has a fraud tip line: 1-800-378-0445. There is also an online form for reporting fraud. We’re in this fight against fraud together.

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