How David Greenfield Earned Your Vote

By: Cm Staff

Cases of auto insurance fraud have been on the rise over the past three years and drivers are being forced to pay for it. The Insurance Department’s statistics and industry experts suspect that fraud cases have jumped 33 percent since 2006, especially in the Bronx and Brooklyn areas.

Robert Hartwig, president of the industry-backed Insurance Information Institute, estimates the scams in 2009 to have cost insurers and drivers $229 million. The crooks stage accidents and present fraudulent medical claims and treatments.

As fraud cases have risen, so have the average payouts. Auto insurance injury claim amounts in New York have soared some 55 percent since 2004 and are now more than double the national average. Last year’s cost per claim in New York averaged $8,690 – up from $5,615 in late 2004 and more than twice the current $4,152 U.S. average.

State Senate Insurance Committee Chairman Neil Breslin (D-Albany) is vowing to push a reform measure this year to crack down on the abuse.