SC Attorney General's Office: Insurance Fraud

Are Your Insurance Premiums Getting higher and Higher? Help Bring Your Premiums Down by Reporting Insurance Fraud. Call 1-888-95-FRAUD

Reports

$1,030 per year, that's what the average American household pays every year in out-of-pocket-costs as a result of insurance fraud!

If insurance fraud was a business, it would be a top Fortune 500 company. Auto, home and business insurance fraud cost Americans more than $85 billion a year.

Fraud could be as simple as misrepresenting facts on an insurance application or "padding " or inflating actual claims or as serious as submitting claims for injuries or damage that never occurred and "staging" accidents. At least 10% of all auto, home and business insurance claims are either fraudulent or highly inflated.

Research indicates that the public's attitude about insurance fraud has grown increasingly tolerant in recent years. Studies show that 1 in 3 Americans believe it is "all right" to pad claims to make up for premiums paid in previous years when they had no claims. Most people think that fraud is a victimless crime, but You Are the Victim. Insurance fraud directly affects the amount you pay for health, auto and homeowner's insurance and increases the prices you pay for goods and services.

A new program in South Carolina will help you stamp out insurance fraud and hold down premiums for you and others: The South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline.

The South Carolina Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division, in conjunction with the Professional Insurance Agents of South Carolina and the South Carolina Insurance News Service, has established the Insurance Fraud Hotline, available 24 hours a day.

South Carolina has a mandatory reporting act that states "...any person, insurer or authorized agency having reason to believe that another has made a false statement or misrepresentation or has knowledge of a suspected false statement or misrepresentation shall, for purpose of reporting and investigation, notify the Insurance Fraud Division of the Office of the Attorney General of the knowledge or belief and provide any additional information within his possession relative thereto."

If you suspect someone has committed any type of insurance fraud, call the South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline toll free. You don't have to reveal your identity.

Or you can copmlete the Insurance Fraud Complaint Form.

Seven of the Most Common Types of Insurance Fraud:

Under reporting the number of miles you drive on your auto policy.
Failing to report an accurate medical history when applying for health insurance.
An employee of a company who fakes or exaggerates injuries to avoid work and draws workers' compensation payout.
An auto accident victim who falsifies or overstates injuries--or even fakes the accident--to achieve a large settlement or award.
Staging automobile accidents which result in inflated injury claims.
An insured who draws accident and health insurance benefits because of exaggerated or even fabricated injuries or illness.
Exaggerating the amount and value of items stolen from a home or business.

Links

National Insurance Crime Bureau
http://www.nicb.org

Coalition Against Insurance Fraud
http:// www.insurancefraud.org

SC Insurance News
http://www.scinsnews.com

SCIFI (SC Insurance Fraud Investigators)
http://www.sc-ifi.com

SC Department of Insurance
http://www.doi.state.sc.us

Insurance Journal
http://www.insurancejournal.com

For Insurance Fraud Bureaus in other states: http://www.insurancefraud.org/fraud_bureaus_list.htm