Insurance Claim

One of the greatest challenges insurance companies face is the ferreting out of insurance fraud. Wherever there is a chance that someone can get paid for submitting a fraudulent claim, there are also stupid people who are willing to give it a try.

Here are some recent examples:

1. The Charging Bull

NEW HAVEN, CT: Connecticut state investigators say have charged Garrett Dalton with felony fraud after he was spotted running a 40-yard dash in a race sponsored by a local radio station. Dalton was collecting worker’s compensation from alleged injuries sustained as a prison guard...otherwise known as a “bull.” Dalton entered a not-guilty plea.

2. Mr. Motion pleads guilty to faking injury

PENNSYLVANIA: The state Attorney General said that Michael Taris tried to make a claim for injuries from a slip and fall in a Seven Eleven store. But then investigators found out that Taris is a professional wrestler with the name “Mr. Motion,” and is trained to fake falls and injuries. Taris pleaded guilty and got three years probation.

3. Didn’t you think someone would notice her missing?

CHICAGO, IL: Donald Brewer was charged with first degree murder in the death of Kenyatae Brewer, 22, his wife and the mother of three kids to collect on her life insurance policy. Mrs. Brewer was found slain in the trunk of her Chevy Monte Carlo, shot multiple times.

She was not available for comment. Mr. Brewer may be unavailable for comment for 40-60 years.

Insurance fraud is serious business, since claims paid on fraudulent claims cost ALL of us higher premiums. It’s no different than shoplifting at a retailer. Stores simply add the cost of their “shrinkage” to the cost of the goods you and I pay for.

Report any suspected insurance fraud to the police. And know that most of the time, criminals get caught.

One of the greatest challenges insurance companies face is the ferreting out of insurance fraud. Wherever there is a chance that someone can get paid for submitting a fraudulent claim, there are also stupid people who are willing to give it a try.

Here are some recent examples:

1. Cops should know better.

COLUMBIA, KY: Donnie and Tina Richmond have been arrested and charged with arson and perjury in the case of insurance fraud on a house they owned. Donnie is a Kentucky State Trooper...or should I say...was a Trooper. They have been indicted and will be tried for the fire that occurred in October 2009.

2. Sharing the wealth doesn’t pay.

Investigators at the Georgia Department of Insurance have arrested the man they allege was the “ringleader” in a fraudulent auto accident scheme that collected over $95,000 from various insurers.

Joseph Morris of Savannah was charged with three counts of insurance fraud. Each count could get Morris ten years in prison.

Morris filed 16 claims involving vehicles he either owned or previously owned, or claims involving people who were associates.

3. If you can skydive, maybe you’re OK.

HUDSON FALLS, NY: Jacob Bancroft, a press operator, claimed a back injury which allowed him to collect insurance benefits for about 18 months until he was discovered skydiving. He also did hot air ballooning, hiking, firefighting and heavy construction. His downfall was when he posted his activities on Facebook.

The video is at: ABC Insurance Fraud Video Clip

Insurance fraud is serious business, since claims paid on fraudulent claims cost ALL of us higher premiums. It’s no different than shoplifting at a retailer. Stores simply add the cost of their “shrinkage” to the cost of the goods you and I pay for.

Report any suspected insurance fraud to the police. And know that most of the time, criminals get caught.

One of the greatest challenges insurance companies face is the ferreting out of insurance fraud. Wherever there is a chance that someone can get paid for submitting a fraudulent claim, there are also stupid people who are willing to give it a try.

Here are some recent examples:

1. Fire, Brimstone and the evil Church Music Director

KANSAS CITY,KANSAS: A church music director hatched an elaborate plan to torch the church where he worked.

Carva Lee White of Kansas City, Missouri, planned to convince the pastor to make an insurance claim, collect the money and then help White inflate repair bills and embezzle money from Church Mutual Insurance Company.

White actually set the fires inside the church on Halloween, 2008. The church, Missionary Baptist Church, received over $110,000 for the fire repairs. White is serving a 20-40 year sentence.

2. Conniving Contractor Bribes an Adjuster

SEATTLE,WA: Federal prosecutors filed fraud charges against Donald Chill, a disaster contractor, alleging insurance fraud of over $3.2 million.

Seems Chill bribed an adjuster to submit wildly inflated estimates for damages that Chill collected from Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance.

When challenged on prices, Chill created second estimates from nonexistent contractors and submitted them as “proof.”

The trail has not yet been completed.

3. With friends like this....

GARNER, NC: Kimberly J. Smithson was charged with larceny, breaking and entering, filing a false report and insurance fraud. Smithson stole jewelry worth over $14,000 from the home of a friend whose house she was watching. She also submitted a false claim to Assurant Insurance for electronics that she was paid for. Finally, she was found to have collected on a fire set at her home, which paid her over $9,000 for damages.

She awaits trial.

Insurance fraud is serious business, since claims paid on fraudulent claims cost ALL of us higher premiums. It’s no different than shoplifting at a retailer. Stores simply add the cost of their “shrinkage” to the cost of the goods you and I pay for.

Report any suspected insurance fraud to the police. And know that most of the time, criminals get caught.

One of the greatest challenges insurance companies face is the ferreting out of insurance fraud. Wherever there is a chance that someone can get paid for submitting a fraudulent claim, there are also stupid people who are willing to give it a try.

Here are some recent examples:

1. Arson (I like this story because of the restaurant’s name.)

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL: Two men were arrested and charged with insurance fraud after a 2008 fire at Wakey, Wakey Eggs & Bakey.

The fire was set in the kitchen after the restaurant closed on May 5, 2008, and caused over $200,000 in damages.

One of the owners, Victor H. Jara, was arrested and charged with arson and filing false insurance claims. Matthew Thayer, a contractor, was also arrested on the same charge.

The building’s owners had just evicted the restaurant owners for defaulting on the rent.

2. Dumb Insurance Adjusters...there are a bunch of them.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: A Maryland woman pleaded guilty to writing company checks to herself and depositing the money into her own checking accounts while she was an insurance claims adjuster.

Shironda Jones pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft over $500. She was sentenced and ordered to pay back over $16,000 she had stolen from Nationwide Insurance Company between September 2006 and September 2007.

3. Hometown Insurance Fraud...I missed out on all the fun.

KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Grand Rapids, Michigan is known as the Furniture City, and is getting a reputation as a hub for medical research. But now it’s become the Michigan Mecca for insurance fraud.

Three of the top Five insurance fraud cases in Michigan in 2009 were committed in Kent County.

The top case was Dr. Robert Stokes, a dermatologist who bilked Medicare and other health insurers for over $2 million. He is in prison serving a 10-year sentence for double billing and charge for work he did not perform.

Stokes’ Tudor mansion on Reeds Lake, which he tried to sell for $7.7 million, was recently auctioned off by the bank for $1.75 million.

Next case involved James Westra, age 80, who paid a former employee to torch his business so he could collect over $300,000.

Third is Isaac Chandler, of Alpine Township, who was sentenced in Augustto at least six years in prison for selling $40 counterfeit insurance policies to almost 500 people.

Insurance fraud is serious business, since claims paid on fraudulent claims cost ALL of us higher premiums. It’s no different than shoplifting at a retailer. Stores simply add the cost of their “shrinkage” to the cost of the goods you and I pay for.

Report any suspected insurance fraud to the police. And know that most of the time, criminals get caught.

The health insurance companies of America are lining up at the doors of Congress to commit legalized bribery like never before. In this time in which Congress and the President are trying to craft some type of health care legislation, insurers want to make certain that their feet are firmly under the table.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, the national association representing nearly 1,300 member companies providing health insurance coverage, reports that it spent $2.4 million just from July through September.

The non-partisan group Center for Responsive Politics reports that some drug companies are also outdoing previous efforts at buying influence. Pfizer has spent $16.3 million lobbying so far in 2009, and Amgen spent $9.2 million so far this year. Those amounts far outpace their 2008 bribes.

So, let’s run a total:

$ 2,400,000
$16,300,000
$ 9,200,000
$27,900,000

That doesn’t count individual companies like US Healthcare, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Humana, United Healthcare or any others. That also doesn’t count October and November.

But remember...there are 435 members of Congress and 100 Senators, one president and one vice president who is also president of the Senate. That totals 537 people. Divide the bribery total above by 537 and you see that each elected official could potentially have received $51,955.00 in contributions just from these lobbyists.

Remember also that the bribery is not done. Remember also that the opponents to this health care bill are also lobbying and bribing.

Even the AARP has spent a mind-boggling $15.1 million in lobbying bribes this year, which is less than they spent in the first three quarters of 2008.

Don’t worry about the insurance companies, though. Their profits are secure, and Congress will NEVER leave them out.

Why?

The insurance companies have vast investment portfolios. A big part of their portfolios are government bonds and other government securities. If the insurance companies sold off even 1 or 2 % of their holdings at once, they could cause the bond markets to collapse overnight. Washington knows this and won’t allow it to happen. So, insurers will get pretty much anything they desire.

As the old saying goes...“when money talks, all the bullshi* walks.” Don’t believe ANY headlines that tell you the insurance companies are dithering and worried. They have NO WORRIES.

In 2008, The Department of Insurance of the State of New York released a report showing the 40 P&C insurance companies that had the most complaints. We did an article about this previously. We showed the ten worst companies, the ones that got the most complaints. But we did not feature the ones that got the least number of complaints in New York, a tough insurance market.

Here is the list of New York’s best P&C insurance companies as determined by the least number of complaints, higher number of complaints as you go down the list:

1. Long Island Insurance
2. Infinity Property & Casualty
3. Interboro Mutual
4. Tri-State Consumer Ins. Group
5. American International Group (AIG)
6. Safeco Insurance Group
7. Countrywide Insurance
8. White Mountains Group, OneBeacon, Esurance, Auto One Ins.
9. State Wide Insurance
10. Hannover RE Group, Clarendon National (no longer writing business)

You may find that some of these companies are only local or regional and that you cannot do business with them where you live. But notice that AIG, Safeco, OneBeacon and Esurance are national companies that got fewer complaints.

It’s not as easy to list a Top Ten Best P&C Insurance companies for America. We would have to contact all 50 state Departments of Insurance and find out which insurers had the least complaints. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners presently does not have any such report. In addition, complaints are not the only criteria that should be used to evaluate an insurance company.

Think about this statement, my friends.

The only thing that truly matters about your insurance is what happens when you submit a claim. It doesn’t matter how good your agent is...or if the company sends you a calendar every year...or buys you dinner. It really doesn’t matter if you pay a low premium or a higher premium. Claims handling is EVERYTHING!! Claims are about KEEPING PROMISES. When the insurance companies don’t keep their promises, the complaints pile up!

Lowest premiums are not the only criterion you should use, either. Shopping for insurance is confusing and complicated. Determining if your quotes are “apples and apples” comparisons takes strict attention to detail.

You may need the help of a dedicated, experienced agent to determine your insurance needs and buy the right policy. Still, my recommendation is to shop widely for your insurance needs. Get quotes from captive agents (who only write for one company) and independent agents (who write for multiple companies).

Getting quotes on the internet makes shopping for insurance very easy these days. But look for an insurance quote service that can give you competitive quotes PLUS strategies on submitting insurance claims that will help you collect thousands of dollars more in your claim settlements.

So, which insurance company should you do business with?

1. Choose a company that has an A+ or A rating from the insurance rating services like A.M. Best.
2. Get multiple insurance quotes at least every two years, then choose the company whose policies give you the most coverage for the least money. Don’t worry about company loyalty. The companies don’t care and neither should you.

If you are one of the unfortunate people who experience a loss of any kind, you'll need to know how to handle your insurance claim so that you maximize your recovery. You will need to know how to take control of your insurance claim, and add hundreds or even thousands more dollars to your claim settlement.

Go To: www.InsuranceQuoteHQ.com

You can win the insurance game if you have the right information. So go and win!

By Russell D. Longcore

Northern Georgia has been inundated with heavy rains over the last week. This has caused localized flooding, toppling trees and flooded roadways.

What do you do if your automobile or vehicle has been damaged by flood waters? What do you do if your home has sustained flood damage? Now, you’ll begin the cleanup, recovery and repair process. Many of you will be submitting insurance claims for damage to your home, business or vehicle. Let me share a few strategies to help you add hundreds or even thousands more dollars to your claim settlement.

Vehicle Damage Claims

1. Remember that when flood waters damage your vehicle, it will be covered by the “Other Than Collision” or “Comprehensive” coverage, not your Collision coverage. Make sure you know what your OTC deductible is.
2. Take your damaged vehicle to the body shop of YOUR CHOICE, not the choice of the insurance company. It’s YOUR vehicle, not theirs.
3. Insist on Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts, not cheap aftermarket parts. The insurance company has a legal duty to return you car to its pre-loss condition. Cheap aftermarket parts are not as safe as OEM parts.
4. Perform a very careful inspection and test drive of your vehicle after repairs are completed. If you need to, have a qualified mechanic do the inspection for you. Document any uncompleted repairs, and make sure they get done right then.
5. If your vehicle is a total loss, get written appraisals from dealers of your choice to be sure that the insurance company pays you all that you are entitled to collect. Don’t just accept the first total loss offer from the insurance company...they ALWAYS try to “lowball” you.

Building Damage Claims

1. Mitigate your damages...board up and tarp the home or business if necessary. The costs are covered.
2. Call a restoration contractor, not just a remodeling contractor.
3. Get your chosen contractor to meet with the insurance adjuster and agree on the scope of damages. Don’t just accept an estimate written by the adjuster.
4. If your home is too damaged to live in, your policy may have Additional Living Expense coverage. Carefully document all your expenses over and above your normal expenses while you’re living in a hotel or apartment.
5. If you have heavy damage to your home or business, consider consulting with a Public Adjuster to help you with your claim. They are claims professionals, and can customarily help you maximize your settlement amount.
If you have experienced a property loss, you need to know winning insurance claim strategies. The insurance company will not tell you the claims process, but I will. I will show you how to take control of your insurance claim, and add hundreds or even thousands more dollars to your claim settlement.

For more information, go to: www.insurance-claim-secrets.com
© Copyright 2009 Russell D. Longcore. All rights reserved.
Russell Longcore is available for interviews about insurance claim strategies. These strategies will show your audience how to add hundreds or even thousands more dollars to their claim settlements.
Russ is available for interview on short notice by phone at 678-234-2923.