Trends in Homeowners & Auto Insurance Fraud

Molly
October 23, 2008 3:56 PM

Recently our office has received a few inquiries involving trends in homeowners and automobile insurance fraud. Some wonder if a slowing economy has translated to an increase in arson-related crimes. The answer is that the Department has not seen a significant change in trends regarding automobile or homeowners insurance fraud. Here is arson data from the last few years that demonstrates this:  

Number of CDI arrests for vehicle arsons since 2005:

2005 - 13
2006 - 14
2007 - 14
2008, to date - 13

Number of CDI arrests for homeowners insurance fraud (residential fire, theft, property damage, inflated billing, inflated fire loss) since 2005:

2005 - 9
2006 - 24
2007 - 22
2008, to date - 9

Questionable residential fires:

Insurance companies are required by law to report any suspicious residential fires to our department within 60 days of suspicion, whether or not they able to confirm that arson has occurred.  Often an insurance company will report a suspicious fire to our Department (as they are required to do,) and after investigating the case, they will determine that fraud was not committed. After analyzing the data reported to us, it is frequently determined that arson did not actually occur, or that there is not sufficient evidence to prove that arson occurred. Most of the referrals sent to us are because of suspicious activity, not because a crime has been committed beyond a reasonable doubt. Below are the numbers of questionable residential fires reported to CDI by year, how many investigations CDI opened, and the number of arrests for each year relating to home arson. 

2004
218 Residential Fire suspected fraud cases (SFCs)
1 investigation opened and closed by CDI, insufficient evidence

2005
96 SFCs

2006        
70 SFCs

2007      
123 SFCs
2 investigations were opened by CDI, 1 person charged with arson

2008 to date 
130 SFCs      
2 investigations were opened by CDI, 2 people charged with arson

Below are the numbers of CDI arrests for vehicle arsons since 2005:

2005 - 13
2006 - 14
2007 - 14
2008 - 13