Insurance News - Friday, March 23, 2012

New York Senate Passes Tough Auto Insurance Fraud Measures

On Thursday the New York Senate passed three bills to combat auto insurance fraud, which costs New Yorkers more than $1 billion a year, as well as legislation that would impose stronger criminal penalties for staging auto accidents. Recent cases of auto insurance fraud have uncovered massive crime rings, including doctors, lawyers and scam artists who staged accidents and used New York’s no-fault insurance program as their own, giant, state-sponsored ATM machine.

Senate Bill 4507B would enable insurance companies to retroactively cancel policies taken out by people who commit auto fraud. Senate Bill 1685 would establish a new felony-level crime of staging a motor vehicle accident. Senate Bill 2004 would make the use of “runners” illegal in New York. All three bills need to be passed by the state House before becoming law.

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