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Chalk up another dubious distinction for the Sunshine State. Florida now leads the nation when it comes to auto insurance fraud.
While it’s not a new problem in the state it has become worse as residents struggle with the recession and high unemployment. The most common scams involve owners dumping their vehicles in canals because they can no longer afford to pay their bills.
More recently rings began staging accidents so they could bill insurance companies for millions of dollars in bogus claims. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, from 2007 to 2009 there were 511 staged accidents in Miami, 562 in Tampa and 422 in Orlando. The NICB adds that nearly one out of every four phony car accidents in the U.S. came out of Florida.
Staged accidents have become such a problem that the NICB has videos on its website to expose how these carefully choreographed scams work.
The financial losses to the insurance companies have been tremendous and the problem is reportedly getting worse.
There have been more than two dozen arrests statewide this year alone for scams involving phony accidents and no one expects this pace to slow down anytime soon.
