Criminal activity is actually an industry, of sorts, and — like any other industry — it’s prone to shifts in trends.
Right now, particularly in Minnesota, insurance fraud is on the rise. According to the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau (CFB), there was an 11% increase in insurance fraud investigations in 2020 compared to 2019 — and that’s a 57% total increase over the past five years.
What kinds of activities equate to insurance fraud?
The CFB provides a number of statistics that show where their focus has been over the last five years. According to the CFB:
- Automobile insurance fraud has risen 177%. That includes things like staged accidents and injuries, filing claims for accidents that never happened and lying about the circumstances of a wreck.
- Health insurance fraud cases have actually decreased 28%. That would include situations when a medical provider engages in overbilling, duplicate billing and billing for services that were never provided.
- Homeowners’ insurance fraud cases have risen 94%. This includes things like inflating the amount of storm damage done to a home or lying about the cost of repairs, and engaging in “kickbacks” with contractors.
- Workers’ compensation fraud cases rose over the previous five years but declined 13% between 2019 and 2020. This type of fraud usually involves either a worker claiming injuries they don’t really have or an employer purposefully misclassifying workers to avoid paying for coverage.
All of this information tells you one thing: The authorities are not blind to what’s happening. Anybody who engages in insurance fraud is running the risk of serious criminal charges. If you’ve made a mistake, it’s time to get the legal assistance you need to work your way out of the situation.