Key program areas
Key program areas:
Workers’ compensation fraud
- Covers claimant fraud (employees faking or exaggerating injuries), employer fraud (underreporting payroll to reduce premiums), and provider fraud (medical providers billing for unnecessary or nonexistent treatment).
- Examples: A worker files a claim for an injury that actually happened while playing sports; an employer misclassifies employees to lower premiums.
Automobile insurance fraud
- Includes staged collisions, false injury claims, inflated repair bills, and vehicle “give-ups” (intentionally abandoning or destroying a car and reporting it as stolen).
- This type of fraud is widespread and contributes significantly to rising auto insurance premiums in California.
Healthcare fraud
- Involves fraudulent billing by medical professionals, prescription fraud, and false claims for medical services not provided.
- Examples: A clinic bills for unnecessary tests; individuals stage fake medical treatments to collect benefits.
Property and casualty fraud
- Encompasses fraud related to homeowners’, renters’, and commercial property policies.
- Examples: Filing inflated theft claims, committing arson for profit, or fabricating damage after a natural disaster.
Premium fraud
- Occurs when an employer or individual intentionally misrepresents facts to obtain lower insurance premiums.
- Examples: Misclassifying workers into less hazardous job categories or underreporting payroll to reduce workers’ comp costs.
Life and disability fraud
- Includes false applications, staged deaths, or other misrepresentations used to obtain benefits under life or disability policies.
- Examples: Providing false medical history on an application, or submitting disability claims for conditions that don’t prevent employment.
Each of these fraud programs is funded through assessments on insurers. The programs support investigations, provide training, and coordinate with prosecutors across California. The CDI Fraud Division directs resources toward the most harmful fraud types to help protect consumers from higher premiums and insurers from financial losses.