In a recent press release, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reported that staged accident questionable claims rose by 46 percent from 2007 to 2009. The ratio of staged accident questionable claims to overall bodily injury and personal injury (PIP) claims also increased over this period, while the total number of bodily injury and personal injury claims decreased.
Florida led the states with 3,006 questionable claims, or approximately 26.3 percent of all questionable claims across the nation in that time period. Additionally, three of the top four cities for questionable claims were in Florida, including Tampa, Miami and Orlando.
Staged Accidents
The Insurance Research Council estimates that 24 percent of bodily injury claims resulting from vehicle crashes are fraudulent. Staged or intentional accidents can involve prior surveillance of the accident site, scripting the details of the collision and paying false witnesses to support the conspiring driver's account. Sometimes drivers or passengers will even purposely injure themselves before the accident.
The NICB describes four common staged accidents:
Swoop and Squat
One variation of this scheme typically involves three vehicles. One driver "squats" in front of the victim's vehicle while another vehicle "swoops" ahead, cutting off the squat vehicle. The victim is unable to respond in time and rear-ends the squat vehicle when it brakes hard. The swoop vehicle flees the scene after the collision.
The freeway variation is similar but typically involves four vehicles. The additional vehicle blocks the innocent driver so he or she is unable to change lanes when the swoop vehicle cuts off the squat vehicle. Both the swoop and box-in vehicles drive away from this accident scene.
Panic Stop
As with the swoop and squat, the object is to get the innocent driver to rear-end another vehicle. However, this accident scheme requires only two vehicles, the victim and the braking vehicle. The driver of the braking vehicle positions his or her car ahead of the victim and slams on the brakes when the victim is distracted. The braking vehicle may have backseat passengers to provide notice when to brake, and may also have nonfunctioning brake lights.
Side Swipe
In this staged accident, the innocent driver is side swiped when he or she drifts slightly in the driving lane. This frequently occurs at busy intersections with dual left turn lanes. The side-swiping driver may have conducted advance surveillance to determine which intersections are both heavily traveled by newer vehicles and subject to more vehicle drift in the inner left turn lane.
Drive Down
In the drive down scheme, the offending driver motions for the victim to merge into traffic or proceed through an intersection. When the innocent driver moves forward, the other driver speeds up and causes a collision. The offending driver then denies ever waving the victim forward.
Florida No-Fault Insurance
Florida law requires drivers to carry coverage of at least $10,000 for personal injury protection (PIP) and $10,000 for property damage liability (PDL). PIP coverage insures the driver regardless of who is at fault in the accident. PDL insurance pays for damage to property of another caused by the policy holder. Bodily injury (BI) insurance provides coverage for at-fault drivers who cause serious and permanent injury or death to others.
Fraudulent accident conspirators may attempt to recover against the innocent driver's PDL and BI policies. The seemingly at-fault vehicles flee the scene in the swoop and squat scheme, leaving the innocent driver's insurer to pay for all damages and injuries. Staged accidents are more likely to occur in urban and wealthy areas and may target new, rental or commercial vehicles, which typically carry higher policy limits. Induced accidents may be targeted at vehicles driven by women or senior citizens, as they are seen to be less confrontational following a crash.
Staged accidents exact a steep price from insurers and insured drivers. Insurance companies unknowingly settle fraudulent accident claims and recoup these costs in insurance premiums charged to innocent insured drivers. Victims of staged accidents realize an even more direct financial cost. In addition, these accidents pose a real and dangerous threat to the victims, who can be seriously injured or even die in these crashes.
Drivers can attempt to avoid staged accidents by leaving a sufficient following distance behind the car they are following. Staying focused on the road instead of distracting cell phones, mp3 players or GPS is also helpful. If any of the staged accidents scenarios described above seem familiar, a personal injury attorney can help you assess your rights and legal options.
