ROANOKE, Va. – More than $1 million of fake insurance claims were collected in Virginia last year, according to Virginia State Police’s Insurance Fraud Program 2023 Annual Report. While this seems like a lot, police said this is an 80% decrease from 2022.
Insurance fraud costs Americans about $309 billion annually. In the Commonwealth, it can cost the average American family $1,000 each year.
Virginia State Police received more than 1,416 cases of insurance fraud in 2023. The department said one of the most common types of insurance fraud was property. Police said there were 1,129 notifications involving property fraud.
Special Agent Nicolas Lomasney with the Virginia State Police said property fraud is when someone experiences a loss on possibly a home or car. When that person finds out they don’t have enough coverage or any coverage at all, they later lie about the date.
Virginia State Police said there were 794 auto, 263 homeowners and about 33 commercial notifications involving property fraud.
Lomasney has a warning for people.
“When you have a claim, and you go to your insurance company make sure you absolutely tell the truth. Don’t fabricate anything. Don’t leave anything out and don’t embellish the claim. Just tell the truth of what happened. If you do that, then insurance fraud is not gonna take place,” said Lomasney.
Lomasney said the most common type of property fraud is auto in Southwest Virginia.
Another type of insurance fraud he said people should be aware of is contractor fraud.
Lomasney said this can occur when someone might knock on doors and offer services when they are not licensed.
“I would just make sure that you’re using a reputable contractor, and one way to do that is to check them out on the DPOR website,” said Lomasney. “But you can check on a contractor to make sure they are a licensed and bonded contractor to make sure they are capable, and they can legally be able to perform the work that you want them to do.”
More than $11 million in attempted insurance fraud claims were filed in the Commonwealth. More than $65,000 was given back, according to the Virginia State Police Insurance Fraud Program 2023 Annual Report.