A whopping 36 percent of New York City no-fault insurance claims in 2010 had some element of fraud, a staggering amount that’s hiking rates for all city drivers, officials said yesterday at a City Council hearing.
Some 22 percent of those claims were entirely bogus, while another 14 percent included inflated injuries and unnecessary treatments to gouge money from insurance companies, said Jeffrey Ferguson, executive assistant to the Brooklyn District Attorney.
The fake claims resulted in an estimated $241 million in additional insurance premiums being passed along to drivers that year, he said.
“The average motorist that is out there obeying the law, only claiming what he should claim, is being ripped off because of exorbitant rates that they have to pay,” said City Councilman James Vacca, who held the hearing to discuss changes to the state’s lax no-fault insurance laws.
The no-fault law lets anyone involved in an accident claim up to $50,000 in benefits for injuries, regardless of who caused the accident.
Ferguson and representativess from the Manhattan DA’s Office and AAA testified in support of state legislation that would make it easier to go after scammers, including making it a felony to stage a crash.