RSS Feed
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Attorney General issues 2007 annual insurance fraud report Last year there were 712 insurance fraud complaints from throughout South Carolina received by the Insurance Fraud Division. The total amount of insurance fraud reported was nearly $8.4 million. Nearly $400,000 in fines and restitution were ordered paid by the courts. In addition, nearly $150,000 in civil penalties and civil restitution were paid. This brings the total to more than $74 million in insurance fraud reported and nearly $6 million in monies collected since the S.C. Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division began prosecuting insurance fraud cases in 1995. "Insurance fraud affects everyone in South Carolina by causing higher insurance costs," Jody Parker, president of the South Carolina Insurance Fraud Investigators said. "The recent downward trends with the economy, the issues with adjustable rate mortgages, and gasoline costs have also been reasons for some to try to escape their financial obligations with their lenders by cashing in on the insurance proceeds." Highlights from the Attorney General's 2007 Insurance Fraud Report: • There were 712 complaints of insurance fraud reported in South Carolina in 2007 - almost the same as the 722 complaints reported in 2006. There were 94 criminal convictions and 72 civil remedies. • The total amount of fraud reported in 2007 was nearly $8.4 million - down from $15.4 million in 2006, but up from previous years. (One liability fraud complaint of $10 million was reported in 2006) • Cases have come from all around the state of South Carolina and break down by region as follows: Piedmont - 28% (115), Low Country - 24.5% (100), Pee Dee - 24.5% (100), Midlands - 23% (95), • Richland County reported both the highest number of complaints made (79) and the highest total amount of insurance fraud reported with $3,670,190.14 reported in insurance fraud. • The amount of life insurance fraud and personal/ commercial property insurance fraud reported increased in 2007. Nearly $3.5 million in life insurance fraud was reported in 2007 compared with more than $700,000 in 2006. The amount of personal/commercial property insurance fraud reported in 2007 was just under $2 million and was only $974,027 in 2006. • The percentage of auto insurance fraud and workers' compensation fraud increased in 2007. The greatest number of complaints were due to automobile insurance fraud (50%) and workers' compensation fraud (14%) followed by personal/commercial property fraud (13%) and health/medical fraud (9%). The Insurance Fraud Division currently has five attorneys and four South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigators working to stomp out insurance fraud in South Carolina. The South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline, 1- 888-95-FRAUD, is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for reporting insurance fraud, which can be a felony in South Carolina. All reports remain confidential. For a complete copy of the 2007 Annual Report from the Office of the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division or to review county data, please contact Allison Dean Love at 803- 252- 3455 or go online to the South Carolina Insurance News Service at www.scinsnews.com. To obtain a free S.C. Insurance Fraud Hotline brochure or for more information on insurance fraud, contact the SC Insurance News Service at 803- 252- 3455. For more than 30 years the South Carolina Insurance News Service, a nonprofit, nonlobbying organization, has been providing property and casualty insurance information to consumers in South Carolina. The South Carolina Insurance News Service is funded by insurance companies doing business in South Carolina.
Note: One $10 million complaint reported in 2006. |
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
