Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Glenn Wilson is attempting to get legislators to establish an insurance fraud prevention unit within his department, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. A bill doing just that passed the Senate Commerce Committee.
Minnesota is one of nine states that does not have such a unit, according to the Coalition Against Fraud. The Minnesota Department of Commerce regulates a host of businesses, from cigarette pricing to building contractors to insurance.
Wilson said an aggressive fraud unit might be able to lower insurance companies’ costs and put a damper on premium increases.
According to the Insurance Federation of Minnesota, fraud costs the average family $1,000 a year in auto and home insurance premiums.
The legislation Wilson is pushing would operate similarly to fraud units in many other insurance departments, with full-time investigators working as a separate police unit. Insurance companies would pay the bill, with annual fees of $400 to $4,000 depending on their size, according to the Star-Tribune.
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