"Fewer scams, lower rates: End state's reputation as the national center of auto insurance fraud"

You don't find Florida's consumer advocates and Florida's insurance companies holding hands very often, but they have become best buddies in the fight to end the state's reputation as the national center of auto insurance fraud.

According to the insurance industry, Tampa, Miami and Orlando are three of four leading cities for fraud, after New York. The industry further estimates that auto insurance fraud in Florida is a $1 billion business that adds roughly $100 to the premium of a family with two cars. Even if the industry's figures aren't precise, Florida Consumer Action Network Director Bill Newton has it right when he says, "If we can control fraud, everybody benefits."

Florida is vulnerable to such fraud because of the state's no-fault auto insurance law, passed nearly four decades ago. The goal was admirable: to settle claims from minor crashes out of court. Scammers, though, game the system by staging accidents, recruiting "victims" who get phony treatment at bogus clinics. Auto fraud is not a new issue for the Legislature, but the recent surge in no-fault claims - an estimated 46 percent increase between 2008 and 2010 - prompted creation of the Sunshine Alliance to Erase Fraud

A comprehensive anti-fraud bill is being drafted, with the sponsors to be Sen. Ellen Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton. The main provisions will include a requirement that police take names of all passengers in a crash - to determine who was truly injured - a warning on applications for clinics' licenses that fraud is a crime, and the ability of insurers to interview, under oath, all claimants from a crash . The bill should not be confused with House Bill 967, which aims to reduce attorneys' fees in no-fault cases.

Prosecutors also can play a role. When Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle assigned one prosecutor strictly to auto fraud, industry analysts believe, scam operations shifted to Tampa. The goal, though, is not just to keep scammers on the run but to put them out of business. Florida is also home to plenty of Medicare and Medicaid scams, but the state needs to work with the federal government in cracking those rings. With auto fraud, Florida is in the driver's seat.

For more information please visit: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/editorials/fewer-scams-lower-rates-end-states-reputation-as-1296217.html?cxtype=rss_editorials

"Auto insurance fraud crackdown in Miami-Dade"

When the owner of a West Miami-Dade medical clinic schemed to bill insurance companies for staged auto accidents, she did not know that an undercover witness was secretly recording her, authorities say.

“Bring me good stuff,” Elsa Terrero, of New Horizon Practice, told a cooperating witness, according to an arrest warrant released Wednesday. “I control all the clinics in this building … you will get paid.”

Terrero was one of 25 people — including three doctors — charged Wednesday in a crackdown on “personal injury protection” fraud in Miami-Dade that officials say costs insurances companies millions of dollars each year, and ultimately raises rates for consumers. Terrero’s scam cost insurance companies nearly $800,000, though the amount is likely much more, officials said.

“This is not a clinic. This is a fraud mill,” Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater said at a press conference Wednesday.

“Many people see the insurance fraud as a victimless crime. It is not,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

The ring was cracked by detectives from the state’s Department of Financial Services fraud division, and Miami-Dade prosecutors. PIP insurance pays for up to $10,000 in medical bills and lost wages, and Florida ranks as one of the top states in the country for staged auto accident fraud.

Terrero, 40, is charged with racketeering, grand theft, organized scheme to defraud and a slew of other felonies. The others face similar charges.

The undercover investigation began in November 2009 when a man named Martin Triana, secretly working with detectives, agreed to stage an auto accident at a red light in Liberty City, according to an arrest warrant.

Triana later went to the clinic, 7171 Coral Way, where he signed 25 blank therapy forms, which would later be submitted to insurance companies, and was later X-rayed by an unlicensed technician. Later visits resulted in no treatment, the warrant said.

The clinic later billed State Farm insurance for 40 therapy sessions. The clinic also billed the company for three visits with Dr. Gerald Amado, who never examined Triana; the doctor was arrested Wednesday.

Triana later recruited a man named Miguel Hernandez, who was actually an undercover detective using a fake identity. Hernandez played along in another bogus accident, the warrant said, and the result was that clinic billed Imperial Fire & Casualty Insurance Company for $20,225.24.

For more information please visit: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/02/2094346/auto-insurance-fraud-crackdown.html

Miami-Dade school bus drivers may soon be banned from sending text messages while driving

School Board member Larry Feldman has proposed a new rule that would prohibit bus drivers from using iPhones, Blackberrys and cellphones while on the road -- except in cases of an emergency.

If his proposal passes, new rules would also apply to every district employee driving a district-owned vehicle.

Those employees, too, would be banned from texting while driving. And they would have to use a hands-free device to make a call from the car.

The rules would apply to all employees except school police officers, Feldman said.

``People don't understand how serious of an issue this is,'' he said. ``It's really dangerous. But unless it's in black-and-white, people won't pay attention to it.''

The School Board will take up the proposal at its meeting Tuesday.

Over the past year, texting while driving has become a hot-button issue.

A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers sending text messages from the road were 23 times more likely to crash or nearly crash than drivers who were not distracted.

For more information please visit: http://www.miamiherald.com/1460/story/1336865.html

If you've been injured in a motorcycle accident because a motorist was texting while driving, please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

Off-road vehicle riders, ATV and dirt bike enthusiasts might one day have a place to rev their engine and kick up dust

But first, they need the backing of several local, state and federal agencies.

The proposal to use an isolated runway in the Everglades, which was once envisioned to create the largest airport in the world, could now be home to the 54,000 off road vehicle riders registered within 100 miles from the site, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

The concept has the backing of Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz. The county is looking for a cheap and easy way to provide an outlet for the owners of such vehicles. Without a legal place to enjoy them, owners of ATVs and motorcycles often ride illegally on public land or trespass on private property.

``We're trying to gather them and put them in one location and try to protect the more sensitive areas," Diaz told the newspaper.

For more information please visit: http://cbs4.com/local/miami.jetport.offroad.2.1241502.html

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com