Life may be unpredictable, however insurance coverage supplies peace of thoughts in unsure occasions. Whether or not defending individuals’s houses, serving to companies get again on their ft, or supporting households after a fireplace, storm, or automotive accident, it’s what New Yorkers rely on when issues go mistaken. It’s a drive for stability even on unsteady floor.
However rampant insurance coverage fraud threatens the reliability of this method. Fraudulent claims drive up prices for customers, undermine roadway security, diminish well being care within the state, and drain sources from the insurance coverage security web. Refined fraud schemes usually start with deliberately staged auto or worksite accidents meant to gather from insurance coverage insurance policies. The people concerned are then funneled into medical mills that prioritize maximizing declare payouts over real affected person care, usually submitting victims to falsified imaging, therapy plans, and in probably the most egregious eventualities, invasive and pointless medical procedures.
Stopping fraud and defending our roadways and the viability of the healthcare system are essential pillars of the insurance coverage business’s mission, however present legal guidelines don’t go far sufficient. Fraud is a multifaceted drawback that requires a multifaceted resolution, but when enacted, a number of payments within the state legislature would assist deal with gaps in present statute and strengthen the power of insurers and regulation enforcement to forestall fraud from inflating prices.
A invoice launched by Meeting Insurance coverage Committee Chair David Weprin and Senator Leroy Comrie targets staged building web site accidents, the place people faux to fall and pretend accidents to be able to file fraudulent claims and lawsuits. These scams enhance the price of building for all the pieces from inexpensive housing to sustaining the state’s bridges, roadways, and public transit. By making these incidents a prison offense, we will deter fraudulent habits, deliver fraudsters to justice, and defend New Yorkers from paying extra at a time when costs are excessive and so many family budgets are strained.
One other measure sponsored by the identical duo of legislators, targets intentional automotive crashes. Because the DMV warns, staged crashes and fraudulent automotive accident claims are on the rise. In a single viral instance on the Belt Parkway final 12 months, a driver intentionally induced a rear-end collision. Whereas these setups are harmful and put different drivers at critical danger, solely these working the automobile on the time may be prosecuted below present regulation. However we all know staged automotive accidents are directed by a broader community of organized criminals. This invoice would make our roads safer by giving prosecutors the instruments to go after the whole operation by establishing clear authorized penalties for many who orchestrate these schemes.
Many of those scams start when criminals use a stolen bank card or another person’s id to use for protection. A invoice sponsored by Senate Insurance coverage Committee Chair Jamaal Bailey and Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow would enable insurers to retroactively cancel insurance policies in an effort to discourage staged automotive accidents. This measure will allow insurance coverage carriers to cancel fraudulently acquired insurance policies and keep away from paying claims involving intentional automotive accidents. Importantly, harmless bystanders will stay lined below the invoice’s provisions.
Within the combat in opposition to fraud, collaboration is vital. On the state capitol this session, the insurance coverage business will proceed to advocate for zero-tolerance anti-fraud legal guidelines that maintain dangerous actors accountable. With the fitting instruments, insurance coverage carriers, lawmakers, and regulation enforcement can work collectively to interrupt up subtle fraud rings and guarantee customers aren’t paying the worth for prison exercise. This coordination will defend sources and guarantee households and companies proceed to have entry to inexpensive and dependable protection. New Yorkers deserve nothing much less.
Cassandra Anderson is president of the New York Insurance coverage Affiliation, the nation’s oldest state insurance coverage commerce group that has served the property and casualty insurance coverage business for greater than 140 years.
