Tampa Staged Accidents Costs Everyone A LOT

Perhaps you've been driving Dale Mabry and noticed billboards over the last few months advertising that staged accidents are very expensive. That's because staged accidents are on the rise here in Tampa and throughout the country. Perhaps it's because of the economy or perhaps it's because those involved in staged accidents are learning that there is a lot of money to be made in Tampa staged accidents. Regardless, these staged accidents are costing you and the innocent people involved in them a lot of money and unnecessary pain.  

An example of how Tampa accidents can be staged goes something like this: You're driving your car down the road and operating it in a perfectly safe manner. Suddenly two cars pull in front of you and a third pulls up next to you. Immediately the car in front of you slams on its brake without warning. You have no time to hit your brakes and avoid the collision and the car next to you prevents you from moving into the next lane. A collision is inevitable. The car you hit from behind then slams into the car in front of it. Suddenly, witnesses may appear saying that you were at fault. In this scenerio there was nothing that you could have done to prevent this Tampa staged car accident. Tampa auto accident lawyers will tell you that unfortunately this type of thing happens a lot.

Why? First, there's the $10,000 PIP insurance money that is available up to $10,000 for anyone involved in a Tampa car accident who is injured. The people in the car you hit and the car in front of them all would be able to receive treatment up to $10,000 regardless of the number of people in the vehicle. In Tampa staged car accidents these people can then go to a crooked medical clinic or chiropracters' office. That clinic may then submit false records to the insurance company collecting the $10,000 PIP and giving the person "claiming" injury from the Tampa auto accident a split of the monies received. So if there were five people in the vehicles, that is $50,000 in potential money that can be made. As you can see, staging a Tampa car accident is dangerous, but can be potentially lucrative for the criminals involved.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), Florida currently ranks first among all states for the number of staged accidents. That's not a statistics we Floridians can be proud of. The NICB reports that Florida had about 3000 questionable claims between 2007 and 2009, nearly twice as many as the next highest ranking states on the list, New York and California. Given the amounts of money involved in Tampa staged auto accidents and the growing number of such incidents, you can understand why you're beginning to see more advertisements declaring that staged Tampa car accidents are expensive for everyone.

Of course, there are other types of insurance fraud in addition to Tampa staged car accidents. For example, someone who isn't able to afford their car payments may report the vehicle stolen. They may drive the vehicle into a lake or pay someone to make it disappear. Meanwhile, the driver puts in a claim with the insurance company and gets the car paid off.

Insurance fraud of any type is wrong and expensive. According to the Insurance Information Institute, Floridians are paying approximately $500 million more in 2010 for their insurance because of this fraud. Worse, this is approximately 80% more than in 2009.

And of course, when a business operates a vehicle and has to pay more for insurance, they will do their best to pass on such costs to you, their customers.

So what can be done? Tampa car accident lawyers will tell you that you've got to be more careful on the road than ever to avoid staged auto accidents in Tampa. If a car pulls in front of you, slow down IMMEDIATELY and anticipate the possibility of a sudden brake. If you expect fraud in any situation and specifically in a staged Tampa car accident, call the NICB at 800-835-6422. Be aware that if you call, you can provide a tip to them anonymously. With enough effort, we can reduce the incidents of Tampa staged auto accidents and then eventually the billboards will come down advertising the costs of this fraud.

Click here to contact us.