Defending Against Insurance Fraud Claims

Defending Against Insurance Fraud Claims provides an authoritative, insiders perspective on best practices for aiding insurers in handling fraudulent claims. Featuring partners from some of the nations leading law firms, these experts offer strategies for establishing and implementing successful research and investigative techniques, as well as assisting insurers in preventing fraud in the future. These top lawyers provide advice for consulting experts in the field, preparing for and conducting an examination under oath, and effectively collecting and presenting key evidence. From identifying helpful resources to requesting appropriate information, these authors discuss the increasing importance of using technology and social media in the initial research process and how it can ultimately affect the outcome of a case. The different niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented enable readers to get inside some of the great legal minds of today, as these experienced lawyers offer up their thoughts around the keys to success within this ever-evolving area of law.

Insurance fraud is a growing problem on a global scale. The ABI estimates that fraudulent insurance claims on motor and household policies alone cost insurers in excess of £1 billion every year. This book provides an analysis of the insurance industry’s response to the problem and examines fraud from legal and practical perspectives to determine how to manage and reduce fraud. Key issues covered include: fraud in the insurance and reinsurance context, a look at industry-wide initiatives and individual insurance companies’ approaches to the problem, consideration of recent legal developments and a look at how insurance fraud is tackled in other jurisdictions. Includes a chapter on marine insurance fraud.

Insurance Fraud Is Epidemic Insurance fraud continually takes more money each year than it did the last from the insurance buying public. There is no certain number. Most attempts at insurance fraud succeed. Estimates of the extent of insurance fraud in the United States range from $87 billion to more than $300 billion every year.Insurers and government backed pseudo-insurers can only estimate the extent they lose to fraudulent claims. Lack of sufficient investigation and prosecution of insurance criminals is endemic. Most insurance fraud criminals are not detected. Those that are detected do so because they became greedy, sloppy and unprofessional so that the attempted fraud becomes so obvious it cannot be ignored.The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) estimates that almost 25% of the bodily injury claims related to auto crashes are bogus. Property and casualty claims against auto insurance are not much better, coming in at around a 10% fraud rate.A person commits the offense of insurance fraud by knowingly and with the intent to defraud any insurer presents or causes to be presented to any insurer any statement forming a part of, or in support of, a claim that contains any false, incomplete or misleading information concerning any fact or thing material to the claim. [18 Pa.C.S.A. § 4117(a)(2).] A person acts "knowingly" when he or she is aware that it is practically certain that his or her conduct will cause such a result. Likewise, a person acts "intentionally" when "it is his or her conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result.As the industry attempts to keep pace with fraudsters' varied, ever-shifting tactics, it must deploy more innovative, effective anti-fraud technologies or risk dire losses. Vendors and organizations include the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF), CSC, Detica NetReveal, Equifax, Experian, FICO, IBM, Innovation Group, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), ISO/Verisk, KPMG, LexisNexis, Mattersight, Mitchell, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), SAP, SAS, and TransUnion.Insurers must also generate a close relationship with the state insurance department's fraud division or fraud bureau, local police agencies, the FBI, the ATF, the Postal Investigation Service, the local fire department's arson unit, local prosecutors, and the local U.S. Attorneys if they are to have any chance to reduce the effect of insurance fraud. Insurers should also work to make the general public, state legislators, state governors, congress members and U.S. Senators, and the Attorney General of the United States aware of the effect insurance fraud has on the public at large and the insurance industry.Wherever insurance is written insurance fraud exists. It is an equal opportunity fraud committed by people of every race, religion or national origin. Insurers who do not exercise serious anti-fraud efforts often complain that the local district attorneys and police agencies give a low priority to the crime of insurance fraud. No matter how seriously the insurers work to prove fraud the authorities often ignore them. In response, police and prosecutors complain that the insurers do nothing that police and prosecutors can use to prosecute the crime of insurance fraud while insurers complain that prosecutors ignore them when they present evidence of a fraud. There is truth in both complaints. Insurers, although compelled by statute to investigate potential insurance fraud and to present the results of their investigations to prosecutors, they are not trained as police officers. This book is written to make it clear to insurers, police and prosecutors that it is necessary to stop complaining and start working together to reduce the extent of insurance fraud. If they do not work together the crime will continue to metastasize until it will be impossible to write insurance at a profit or for a price anyone can afford.

The essential promise of an insurance policy is that when a claim is filed, the company will pay what it owes, promptly and fairly. Increasingly that promise is being violated. Insurance companies often delay payment of valid claims, deny payment in part or altogether, and force claimants to litigation to receive the benefits to which they are entitled. This new book exposes and documents the problem and offers solutions for consumers and lawmakers.Today insurance companies often delay payment of justified claims, deny payment altogether, and force policyholders and claimants to litigation. Since the 1990s, as a result of the intense focus on price competition and maximizing shareholder value, insurance companies have transformed the claims process into a profit center, adopting elaborate systems to cut payments to policyholders and claimants. Many of these systems have been designed by McKinsey & Co. and other large consulting firms, and they involve sophisticated techniques to avoid the prompt and fair payment of claims and to reward company employees for underpaying valid claims. Delay, Deny, Defend describes the history and operation of these systems in automobile and homeowners insurance, including segmenting claims, litigation strategies, computer systems such as Colossus and Xactimate, and changes in the role of claims adjusters. It also includes chapters on insurance in natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and on insurance fraud. Among other sources, the book uses insurance company internal documents, statements of present and former company executives, trial testimony, and other material not widely available. The book concludes with advice for consumers and proposals for legal and regulatory reform.

An expose of insurance injustice and a plan for consumers and lawmakers to fight it Over the last two decades, insurance has become less of a safety net and more of a spider's web: sticky and complicated, designed to ensnare as much as to aid. Insurance companies now often try to delay payment of justified claims, deny payment altogether, and defend these actions by forcing claimants to enter litigation. Jay M. Feinman, a legal scholar and insurance expert, explains how these trends developed, how the government ought to fix the system, and what the rest of us can do to protect ourselves. He shows that the denial of valid claims is not occasional or accidental or the fault of a few bad employees. It's the result of an increasing and systematic focus on maximizing profits by major companies such as Allstate and State Farm. Citing dozens of stories of victims who were unfairly denied payment, Feinman explains how people can be more cautious when shopping for policies and what to do when pursuing a disputed claim. He also lays out a plan for the legal reforms needed to prevent future abuses. This exposé will help drive the discussion of this increasingly hot- button issue.

v. 1. Research findings -- v. 2. Concepts and methodology -- v. 3. Implementation issues -- v. 4. Programs, tools and products.

The Canadian edition of The Little Black Book of Scams is a compact and easy to use reference guide filled with information Canadians can use to protect themselves against a variety of common scams. It debunks common myths about scams, provides contact information for reporting a scam to the correct authority, and offers a step-by-step guide for scam victims to reduce their losses and avoid becoming repeat victims. Consumers and businesses can consult The Little Black Book of Scams to avoid falling victim to social media and mobile phone scams, fake charities and lotteries, dating and romance scams, and many other schemes used to defraud Canadians of their money and personal information.

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.