Taking Center Stage

As another year of the COVID-19 pandemic draws to an arduous close, consumers are feeling greater economic pressure in terms of inflation. Consequently, an unforeseen yet unsurprising byproduct has evolved: a fraudulent insurance epidemic, spurred by staged and fraudulent auto accidents. In 2022, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud (CAIF) conducted a study estimating the economic harm and impact caused by insurance fraud in the United States. Their findings reveal that insurance fraud can cost U.S. consumers almost $308.6 billion yearly. Meanwhile, the percentage of fraudulent car accidents is estimated by the FBI to contribute $40 billion annually to this deficit. The implications of these numbers highlight the uptick in specific types of vehicular insurance fraud and the challenges legal defense teams face when representing insurance companies against these criminal schemes.