Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler wants to create a new fraud unit to investigate staged traffic accidents. Those can involve a network of lawyers, doctors, chiropractors and physical therapists.
Kreidler says he’ll request about $2 million in funding from the Legislature to create a five-person insurance fraud unit in his department. He says 41 other states have such fraud units.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates that Washington insurers paid more than $404 million in bogus claims in 2004. That figure is based on what the industry believes is a standard 10 percent fraud rate in claims.
Topics Fraud Washington
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Meta Stares Down Trillion-Dollar Threat as Landmark Social Media Trial Begins 
A Landmark Supreme Court Ruling Is Upending How America Moves Its Goods 
State Farm Must Give Up Trade Secrets in Claims Lawsuits, but Under Court Review 
11 New Firms Join Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Independent Agencies From This Issue
