Insurance Fraud Lawyers Erie, PA

Insurance Fraud Defense Lawyers Dedicated to Representing Clients in Erie County, Crawford County, and Across Western Pennsylvania

Committing insurance fraud will carry repercussions that far exceed the insurance company’s denial of the insurance claim itself—and the crime of insurance fraud encompasses actions that are far more extensive than simply filing a false insurance claim. Insurance fraud cases are complex and can require intense investigation on the part of the prosecution, Pennsylvania law enforcement officials and even the FBI when federal charges may apply. If you suspect that you are under investigation for committing insurance fraud, you need an equally dedicated lawyer to investigate your side of the story.

Because the penalties for an insurance fraud conviction are harsh, if you have been accused of, or arrested for, insurance fraud in Western Pennsylvania, contact an experienced lawyer to advocate on your behalf. At Purchase, George & Murphey, P.C., our lawyers have two decades’ worth of criminal defense experience in Erie and Western Pennsylvania, including extensive experience successfully representing clients accused of white collar crimes. We understand what it takes to obtain the most successful outcome possible in your insurance fraud case.

How is Insurance Fraud Committed in Pennsylvania?

Under Pennsylvania law, a defendant can be found guilty of insurance fraud after engaging in some type of fraudulent conduct with the intent to defraud another, generally with the goal of profiting from an insurance policy in some way. The prosecution can obtain a conviction for insurance fraud if the defendant took actions with the intent of defrauding an insurance adjuster, the insurance agency, a self-insured individual or the overall insurance company by filing a false claim or otherwise, whether the policy is:

• Homeowner’s insurance,
• Car insurance,
• Health insurance,
• Life insurance,
• Fire or flood insurance.

Some examples of how an individual may commit insurance fraud include:

• The policy owner destroys his or her own property, and then makes a claim under the policy that insured that property (for example, a homeowner sets his or her own home on fire, and makes a claim under the relevant fire or homeowner’s insurance policy),
• Selling a vehicle or other insured item, and then filing a stolen property claim that with the insurance company,
• A doctor performs unnecessary procedures on a patient, or charges the patient’s health insurance company for procedures that were never performed (in which case it is the doctor or health care facility that can be held responsible for the insurance fraud),
• Faking death in order to profit under a life insurance policy.

In addition to these relatively dramatic actions, insurance fraud under Pennsylvania law can encompass a wide variety of actions, including:

• Using another person’s identity to make false insurance claims,
• Providing the insurance company with false or misleading information (including during the application process),
• Hiring another person to make false or misleading statements to the insurance company or agent,
• Providing false documents or information to the insurance company, even if that information is only used with the intent of reducing insurance premium costs,
• Knowingly engaging in unlicensed activity by acting as an agent or broker, whether with the intent of defrauding the insurance company or the general public,
• Benefiting from another person’s insurance fraud scheme by providing assistance to that person.