Insurance Fraud

Those who commit insurance fraud are not easily identifiable. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) says that insurance cheats range from organized criminals, to unscrupulous doctors, lawyers, vehicle body shop owners, to ordinary people who buy insurance. Although the motivation to commit insurance fraud is always monetary, the amount also varies greatly, from a few extra dollars on an insurance claim, to thousands or more stolen by organized fraud rings.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that property/casualty insurance fraud cost insurers $24 billion in 1999. According to Conning and Company, fraud cost the entire insurance industry $96.2 billion in 1999.

Fraud rings have followed the path of technology to the Internet in search of fraud opportunities. Along with the ease of electronic filing of medical claims is the greater potential for committing fraud. Conning's 2000 study found that 84 percent of respondents to its fraud survey agree that the use of the Internet will create new classes of insurance fraud.