# Fight commercial insurance fraud

### The total cost of insurance fraud is estimated to be more than $40 billion per year and rising.  Fraudulent claims lead to higher insurance premiums for everyone.

## Types of fraud

Insurance fraud is a crime that occurs when someone knowingly lies to an insurer in order to receive payments.  Examples are:

- Misrepresenting address to obtain cheaper insurance
- Staged auto accidents
- Planned vehicle theft
- Faked or inflated losses, medical, or repair bills
- Intentionally set auto fires
- Failure to disclose all drivers who may impact the price of policies
- Fraudulent or stolen identity information used to obtain an insurance policy
- Fictitious or invalid payment information used to secure a policy

Driving defensively can help you prevent an accident and protect yourself from fraud. Here are some common schemes to be aware of:

- When stopped in the same lane of traffic, the car directly ahead of you moves forward then abruptly stops, forcing you into a collision.
- A vehicle suddenly swoops in front of you and jams on the brakes, causing a collision. Despite the low speed, the passengers in the other vehicle claim to have serious back or neck issues.
- As you merge into traffic, another driver yields and waves you on. As you merge, the driver intentionally collides with you and later denies offering you the right-of-way to police.

Read this article on FreightWaves about [Fighting Back Against Truck Accident Fraud](https://www.freightwaves.com/playbook/fighting-back-against-truck-accident-fraud-and-why-visibility-matters)

## Reporting fraud

### You can anonymously report fraud at:

- [http://www.lighthouse-services.com/hdvi](https://report.syntrio.com/_StandardCustomURL/LHILandingPage.asp)
- [1-833-401-0002](/content/claims/fight-fraud/+tel:18334010002/index.html)

### Additional resources:

- **National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB):** The NICB is a non-profit organization that partners with insurance companies and law enforcement to help identify, detect, and prosecute insurance criminals. The NICB website is an excellent source of information.
  
  - [https://www.nicb.org](https://www.nicb.org/)
  - [800-835-6422](/content/claims/fight-fraud/+tel:18008356422/index.html)
- **Fraud Bureaus:** Check to see if your state sponsors a fraud bureau that investigates insurance fraud. Most states do. You may even be eligible for a record if you report a scam.