These crooks try to profit from your misfortune, and it all happens in a flash. In some cases, con artists stage accidents using only their own vehicles and a few associates. In others, they target innocent drivers.
Among the tactics noted by the National Insurance Crime Bureau:
The swoop and squat. One car drives in front of you, and another pulls up next to you on the highway so you can't change lanes. The driver ahead slams on the brakes, causing a rear-end collision. Jump-ins. Following the accident, several people appear out of nowhere and jump in the other cars, claiming to have been passengers all along. Runners and cappers. These scammers show up at the accident scene and try to entice you to go to certain attorneys or medical clinics. Left-turn drive down. A driver motions you to turn left in front of his car. But as soon as you start, he pulls forward to block your way and another car accelerates and slams into you. Right turn drive down. As you make a right turn from a stop sign, a car that was parked at the curb zooms forward and hits your rear corner. The driver then claims you pulled in front of him or ran the stop sign.When police arrive, the other driver and passengers complain of aches and pains and blame you for the accident. Later, they file thousands of dollars in claims for injuries against your car insurance company.
"Most of the damage is done by groups of people who make their living doing this," says Frank Scafidi, spokesperson for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. "They're knuckleheads, really."
Last year, property insurers referred 28,553 suspicious medical claims to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a 10 percent increase from 2008. Seventy-one percent of these were personal auto insurance claims.
The bureau projects if the current pace of questionable claims in the first half of 2010 continues, the total will rise 13 percent this year compared to 2009.
Con artists are becoming more sophisticated and organized, says Bob Cline, national special investigative unit manager for Esurance, an online direct-to-consumer insurance company headquartered in San Francisco.
The crooks work with shady clinics and attorneys, use fictitious names and vehicles that can't be traced to previous accidents, and recruit witnesses and passengers with no criminal histories. In many cases, these recruits are recent immigrants unfamiliar with the legal system.
Another trend Cline sees is the growing involvement of street gangs drawn by a lucrative payoff. Until recently, most of the groups that pulled off auto insurance scams were specialists not involved in other criminal activity.
Florida, California, New York, Texas and Illinois are the top five states for questionable medical claims, according to the bureau. The top five cities are New York; Tampa, Fla.; Miami; Los Angeles and Houston.
"Central Florida is the staged accident capital of the country," Cline says.
A 2010 study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau shows the number of insurance claims related to suspected staged or deliberately caused accidents jumped 58 percent in Florida from 2008 to 2009. Tampa is now at the epicenter of the trend, according to the bureau.
Car insurance scammers look for victims who are alone and drive nice cars likely to be well-insured, Scafidi says.
"They're not going to pick on somebody driving a beater," he says.
Seniors and women are more at risk than men and younger people. Cline says crooks also prey on distracted drivers. Some scammers who have pled guilty told investigators they looked for drivers talking on cell phones.
If you're in an accident, trust your gut if anything seems fishy. Report suspicions immediately to your car insurance company.
"Gather as much information as possible when reporting potential instances of fraud, including names and dates, phone numbers, addresses, amount of money involved, documentation and any other information you think is helpful," Loznicka says.
Here are other tips from the bureau to avoid or fight car insurance medical fraud:
Don't tailgate. Leave plenty of room to avoid rear-ending the car in front of you if it stops suddenly. Call police. Get a copy of the police report with the officer's name, even if there's minimal damage, advises the National Insurance Crime Bureau. That makes it harder for crooks to intentionally cause more damage later and file bigger claims with the insurance company. Record the details. Take pictures at the accident scene and write down as much information as you can. Remain on alert. Be wary of tow trucks that arrive without anyone having called for service, doctors who pressure you to file personal injury claims when you're not hurt, and people who appear on the scene and direct you to certain clinics and attorneys.
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Filed under insurance by on Jan 15th, 2011. Comment. 
Booster Seats Essential but Rarely Used
While almost all parents use car seats for newborns and toddlers, pre-school age children don't get the same protection – but need it! Each year, almost 500 children ages 4 through 7 die and thousands more are injured in motor vehicle crashes.
According to the Partners for Child Passenger Safety, only 19% of all children 4 to 7 sit in booster seats, which can substantially reduce the risk of death and injury. Of those not in a booster, but using an adult seatbelt, most of these children are too small or short, risking injury or death. In some cases, an adult restraint is more dangerous than none – but barely.
Why Booster Seats?
Booster seats elevate the child up off the vehicle seat to permit better fit with an adult safety belt. A booster can position the lap belt portion of the seat belt across a child's hips securely. A safety belt that's out of position can cause the lap strap to rise over the stomach and the shoulder belt to cut across the neck, leading to possible abdominal or neck injury. And, just as adults do, if the belt is uncomfortable, children will put it behind their backs, defeating the purpose!
Today, forty-two states and the District of Columbia have booster seat laws for toddlers, but only 21 states and DC require booster seats for children ages 4 through 7. Insurance.com supports the recommendations of Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety, an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America's roads safer.
What to Do
Pediatricians and other child safety groups recommend that you place children in a rear-facing child seat in a back seat of the car for as long as is appropriate for the seat's height and weight limits. Then put children in a forward-facing child seat in the back seat of the car for as long as is appropriate for the seat's height and weight limits. After that, children should use an appropriate belt-positioning booster seat until they are at least 4'9" and can remain comfortably seated with:
– for the whole trip, on a consistent basis. You can find more resources at the bottom of our article about car seat safety.
Looking for different information? Have questions or feedback? Please let us know.
Originally posted September 17, 2004.Filed under insurance by on Jan 4th, 2011. Comment.
If you are heading to the grocery store a couple blocks away – buckle up and put down the phone. Statistics show that driver distraction – engaging in activities that take your concentration away from the road – is one of the main causes of accidents for drivers 18 to 34. In fact, 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver distraction, according to a 2005 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
An earlier study by Progressive Insurance showed 77 percent of policyholders involved in an accident were less than 15 miles from home – and more than half were less than five miles from home. High-accident intersections are particularly dangerous – and most cities have a few. If you happen to live in an accident-prone area, insurers will assume your accident risk is higher and charge you accordingly.
You can reduce the risk of accident by avoiding these typical driver distractions:
Cognitive – Lost in thought? Talking on a cell – even hands-free? Then you're not paying attention to the road. Even though you're looking straight ahead, you may not really see what's in front of you. Fatigue can often lead to this type of distraction. If you find yourself spacing out, consider pulling over, getting out of the car for a bit, and refocusing on driving.
Visual – Just leave your copy of “The Cars Greatest Hits” under the passenger seat. Digging for a CD or flipping through a playlist are considered visual distractions. Any task that takes more than a couple seconds to do contributes to a great chance of accident. Taking your eyes off the road to dial a number or text? Not good, either.
Auditory – Hear that siren? Or the horn of the driver trying to warn you that he is out of control and about to careen into your car? No? Then your radio is too loud, you're paying too much attention to your hands-free cell phone or the kids' DVD player is blaring. Loud, consistent noises inside your car can contribute to driver distraction as well. Turn them off or turn them down.
Biomechanical – Need to adjust the seat or your mirrors? Do these things before you are in motion. If you try to adjust a sideview mirror while you're driving, that means you're not looking at the road in front of you. It's a good idea to plug in your car charger before you start driving, too.
It goes without saying that texting or browsing the web on a smartphone or laptop are out of the question. They hit all four of these categories, making them particularly dangerous. That's why so many places have banned cell phone use during driving. It's simply a safety issue.
Six states and the U.S. capital have banned the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. In all but Utah and Washington, D.C., drivers can be ticketed for using cell phones: California, Connecticut, D.C., New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington. And, in other states, some individual cities have bans.
In 18 states and the U.S. capital, young drivers are either banned or restricted from using cell phones: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Texting with is banned in 13 states and the U.S. capital: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Connecticut, D.C., Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
Filed under insurance by on Dec 28th, 2010. Comment.