Insurance fraud

Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit or advantage that is due. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the most common schemes include premium diversion, fee churning, asset diversion, and workers compensation fraud. Perpetrators in the schemes can be insurance company employees or claimants.[1] False insurance claims are insurance claims filed with the fraudulent intention towards an insurance provider.

Fraudulent claims account for a significant portion of all claims received by insurers, and cost billions of dollars annually. Insurance fraud poses a significant problem, and governments and other organizations try to deter such activity.

Studies suggest that the greatest total dollar amount of fraud is committed by the health insurance companies themselves, intentionally not paying claims and deleting them from their systems,[2] and denying and cancelling coverage.[3]

  1. ^ "FBI — Insurance Fraud". Fbi.gov. September 8, 2005. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
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