PA insurance fraud problem growing

Know the risks and penalties for those attempting fraud MECHANICSBURG — Industry authorities report that insurance fraud is on the rise and many experts suspect that the down economy has a hand in this trend. “When people are financially burdened they have a greater tendency to make some bad decisions; decisions that under normal circumstances they would never make,” said Ralph Burnham, executive director for the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (IFPA). “We want people to understand that one lapse in judgment could have lasting effects.” Drawing on real-life scenarios, the IFPA is once again taking their message to the airwaves and on the Web. Television spots that highlight auto, homeowners and worker’s comp insurance fraud remind viewers that insurance fraud is a felony in Pennsylvania - punishable with jail time and/or fines. And this time around, there is something new. “Our television spots that focus on auto insurance fraud created such memorable characters that we wanted to continue their stories,” says Burnham. Viewers can now log onto the IFPA website, helpstopFRAUD.org, to see what happened next. The original television spots are based on true scenarios. “Bad Day,” features a young woman who has been involved in a car accident. While applying for coverage, she lies to an insurance company about when the accident occurred. In “Lost and Found” a man tells his wife he has “taken care of” the problem of how they will make their car payments by getting rid of the car. He told the police and their insurance company that the car was stolen. The wife is horrified - and the phone call from police saying the “missing” car has been found promises to bear out her fears. The new online videos show what happened after those bad decisions were made. “Our hope is that once people see and hear that the risk and penalties of insurance fraud really go far beyond sentences imposed by the courts, they’ll think twice and not commit these crimes,” said Burnham. In Pennsylvania, insurance fraud is estimated to annually drive up claim losses by over one-half billion dollars- a cost that everyone pays for through higher insurance premiums. To learn more about insurance fraud, go to helpstopFRAUD.org.

About IFPA
The IFPA was created in 1994 by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Act 166, the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, created the funding mechanism to arm law enforcement and prosecutors with the resources necessary to fight insurance fraud in the Commonwealth. Funds are collected by assessing insurance companies that write policies in the state. No taxpayer dollars are used.