A criminal defense attorney in Broward County can explain that insurance fraud cases can arise with nearly every type of insurance.  Every year, Florida’s insurance fraud division receives thousands of reports alleging insurance fraud.  Some common situations where a criminal defense attorney in Broward County may be called in to defend a case include:

Fraud Alleged after a Claim 

Insurance companies stay in business by taking premiums on a continuous basis and denying as many claims as possible.  Skilled adjusters are employed to help minimize the amount of damages that are paid on claims.  One tactic that some insurance companies use is to allege that the defendant committed fraud in the initial application.  This may occur for various types of insurances, such as by not disclosing something important on a life insurance application or not listing a pre-existing condition on a medical insurance application.  If the insurance company finds evidence of fraud, it may deny the claim, retroactively cancel the policy and submit the information for prosecution.

In other situations, the insurance company alleges fraud when it believes that the claim itself is fraudulent.  For example, a worker may have intentionally injured himself on the job in order to receive workers’ compensation benefits.  A driver may intentionally crash her vehicle to get out of having to pay it off.  Homeowners may set fire to their home to collect the insurance funds.  These cases are particularly serious, especially if someone was injured in the process. 

Systematic Fraud

Some types of fraud cases are part of larger schemes.  For example, all of the medical staff at a particular doctor’s office may duplicate services in order to receive additional funds from insurance companies and Medicaid.  These actions allow the office to potentially receive funds for services that it did not render, but the consequences can be dire.