Florida Tops Nation in Staged Accidents

The king of insurance fraud is certainly not a title that any state wants to bear. For years Florida has closely tailed New York when it has come to suspicious auto insurance claims. Reportedly, staged car accidents have soared in Florida since 2007, with 3006 suspicious claims reported between 2007 and 2009.  Finishing in a distant second was New York, followed by California with 1689 and 1619 respective claims reported during the same period. 

According to the Sun Sentinel, experts believe that state no-fault laws in Florida and New York might be a contributing factor to those states having the highest number of claims. 

“Florida and New York may have the most questionable claims because they’re among the five largest states and both require a driver’s own insurance to cover some of their medical payments regardless of who is at fault, experts say.”

According to an NICB spokesperson, this spike could also be fueled by the current poor economic conditions. 

Regardless of the reasoning for the rise in number of staged crashes, these are extremely dangerous schemes that target innocent drivers who often end up injured, and sometimes killed.  On top of that, all policyholders bear the burden for fraud as insurers pass on the costs in higher premiums. 

The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud has reported making some progress with 27 arrests this year in connection with staged accidents, and over 830 fraud-related arrests made in the previous year.  Perhaps these efforts will bear fruit with some high profile convictions that serve as a deterrent.  We will have to wait and see.