The New York State Supreme Court has shut down an alleged insurance fraud ring that staged car crashes throughout the Empire State. The court issued a summary judgment last month against a group of defendants who organized the staged accidents in an attempt to receive money from insurers. The ruling found all members of the alleged fraud ring ineligible for any payouts or settlements from their insurer, Integon National Insurance Company. The alleged fraudsters repeatedly cut off and brake-checked commercial vehicles, in an effort to intentionally cause accidents. The judgment alleges that a series of patterns helped identify the staged accident ring. Specifically, each incident involved three occupants in the vehicle; nearly all the losses occurred in the same area; and each insured vehicle was allegedly rear-ended by a box truck or commercial vehicle. Following the incidents, nearly every defendant was treated at one of two specific medical offices in ...
The New York State Supreme Court has shut down an alleged insurance fraud ring that staged car crashes throughout the Empire State. The court issued a summary judgment last month against a group of defendants who organized the staged accidents in an attempt to receive money from insurers. The ruling found all members of the alleged fraud ring ineligible for any payouts or settlements from their insurer, Integon National Insurance Company.
The alleged fraudsters repeatedly cut off and brake-checked commercial vehicles, in an effort to intentionally cause accidents. The judgment alleges that a series of patterns helped identify the staged accident ring. Specifically, each incident involved three occupants in the vehicle; nearly all the losses occurred in the same area; and each insured vehicle was allegedly rear-ended by a box truck or commercial vehicle.
Following the incidents, nearly every defendant was treated at one of two specific medical offices in Queens—visits that were eventually billed back to Integon. These medical offices and the defendants were allegedly working in tandem to pocket “cash kickbacks” from the insurer before any policy premiums were paid, apart from the initial amount paid at a broker’s office.
Each insurance policy was then canceled following the accident and subsequent payout due to nonpayment of insurance premiums, leaving the insurance companies in the red. The court stated that insurance fraud is not a victimless crime, as premium increases partly incorporate fraud costs, which hurt all policyholders, not just insurers.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has taken steps to crack down on automotive insurance fraud in the state. She announced a variety of measures, including increasing the time frame consumers have to report fraud, capping non-economic damages for drivers using or operating a car while engaging in criminal behavior, and limiting payouts for drivers who are deemed mostly at fault in a crash.
The governor cited the swift rise of automotive insurance fraud in the Empire State, with insurance carriers reporting 43,811 incidents of suspected motor vehicle insurance fraud in 2025, an 80 percent increase since 2020. Hochul’s proposals aim to crack down on the bad actors driving up car insurance costs and putting that financial burden on innocent, hardworking New Yorkers.
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