Q. What are the primary functions of the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority?
A. The Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (LATIFPA) is a public agency, created under Act 711 of the 2004 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. Its purpose is to combat motor vehicle insurance fraud, including fraud by theft and other criminal acts, through a statewide cooperative effort of generating funds to enhance or finance fraud prevention efforts. Act 711 also establishes an Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority Fund within the LATIFPA. This specially created funding mechanism will be used to collect and disburse funds through a grant process for the purpose of reducing motor vehicle theft and insurance fraud.
Q. Where can I find the law that created the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority?
A. The Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (LATIFPA) is a public agency, created within the Louisiana Department of Insurance, by Act 711, of the 2004 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature. The relevant statute is LSA - R.S. 23:3201, et al.
Q. What are the statistics for car thefts in Louisiana?
A. Louisiana has seen a continued reduction in the number of reported stolen
vehicles for the past five years. The only year from 1999 to 2003 with an increase
was 2001, when it rose 1.96 percent. In 1999 the number was 21,695, and in 2003,
it was 19,882, a promising drop of 8.36 percent according to the FBI Uniform Crime
Report.
Louisiana saw a 1.51 percent decrease in the auto theft rate from 2002 to 2003 when
the number of thefts dropped from 20,186 to 19,882, ranking Louisiana 24th in the
country.
Louisiana ranked 16th in 2003 with a "thefts per 1,000 population" rate of 4.42.
In 2002, the rate was slightly higher at 4.50.
Louisiana was ranked 21st in 2003 with 19,882 motor vehicles stolen.
Q. Where are the auto theft problem areas in Louisiana?
A. The eight municipalities with the most motor vehicles reported stolen are:
New Orleans, Shreveport, Bossier City, Baton Rouge, Monroe, Lake Charles, Lafayette,
Alexandria and Houma.
The leading problem area is New Orleans. In 2003, New Orleans was ranked 33rd among
all cities in the United States, an improvement from the 27th and 17th rankings
it received in 2002 and 2001 respectively. In 2003, there were 8,969 thefts, a decrease
of 3.13% from 9,259 the previous year. Though New Orleans has shown a steady decrease
in auto theft over the past few years, it still has the highest rate of auto theft
in the state with 670.47 vehicles stolen per 100,000 people.
Shreveport-Bossier City is next, ranked 68th among all U.S. cities in 2003, with
492.28 thefts per 100,000 people. Shreveport reported 1,932 motor vehicles thefts
that year, up from 1,427 two years earlier. This represented the greatest rate of
increase per 100,000 people of any area of the state.
Baton Rouge ranked 85th in 2003, reporting 2,674 thefts, or 443.53 per 100,000 people.
Q. What are the different types of auto theft?
A. Joy riding, opportunity theft, transportation out of the country, theft by juveniles, support addictions, member of an organized theft ring, connection with other crimes and supply "Chop Shops" with parts.
Q. What are the different types of insurance fraud?
A. Auto insurance fraud, catastrophe claim fraud, staged vehicle accident fraud, arson claim fraud, auto collision repair fraud, identity fraud, homeowners' fraud, workers' compensation claim fraud, health care benefits fraud and life insurance claim fraud.
Q. What are some of the most common insurance fraud occurrences?
A. Property/casualty insurance fraud is a crime that costs insurers, and ultimately
their customers, an estimated $29 billion a year according to the Insurance Information
Institute.
Common frauds include padding or inflating actual claims; misrepresenting facts
on an insurance application; submitting claims for injuries or damage that never
occurred and "staging" accidents.
Fraud is a deliberate deception practiced so as to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
Insurance fraud can be "hard" or "soft."
Hard fraud occurs when someone deliberately fabricates claims or fakes an accident.
Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated electronic schemes to defraud insurance
companies.
Soft insurance fraud, also known as opportunistic fraud, occurs when normally honest
people pad legitimate claims or intentionally understate the number of miles they
drive each year or, in the case of business owners, list fewer employees than they
have or misrepresent the work they do in order to get a lower premium.
Those who commit insurance fraud range from large criminal organizations that steal
large sums of money through fraudulent business activities and insurance claim mills,
to professionals and technicians who inflate the cost of services or charge for
services not rendered, to ordinary people who just want to cover their deductible
or view filing a claim as an opportunity to make a little money.
A study by the Insurance Research Council in 1996 found that one-third of all bodily
injury claims for auto accidents contain some fraud. Most of the bodily injury claims
identified as fraudulent included "padding" or "build up" exaggeration of injuries
based on actual accidents.
Fraudulent workers' compensation claims often involve actual workplace injuries
that the worker exaggerates to get paid work leave or other benefits. In a smaller
percentage of cases, workers fake those injuries entirely or claim that an injury
occurred in the workplace when it really happened elsewhere.
Arson for profit is one of the most serious and dangerous types of insurance fraud.
It involves deliberately setting fire to a building, vehicle or other piece of property
to collect insurance benefits for lost property and valuables, some of which may
never have existed.
Life insurance claim fraud involves people faking someone's death in order to collect
life insurance policy benefits.
Health care benefits fraud occurs when unscrupulous doctors, medical professionals
or lawyers bill insurance companies for tests, x-rays, office visits and other services
that never took place.
Catastrophe fraud occurs after natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes.
People will bill insurance companies for their losses, exaggerating the degree of
damage or injury so they can collect more benefits.
Q. What types of programs will the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (LATIFPA) fund to enhance auto theft reduction/fraud prevention/apprehension/prosecution and public awareness?
A. The Authority will award three types of grants.
Law Enforcement Grants will be awarded to state agencies, local governing
authorities and law enforcement agencies to promote more efficient and effective
law enforcement of vehicle theft investigation, enforcement and prevention through
the establishment of automobile theft enforcement teams and other detection/apprehension
devices and programs.
Funds may also be awarded to state, parish and municipal law enforcement agencies
for the purpose of promoting more efficient and effective law enforcement activities
of insurance fraud investigation, enforcement and prevention and enforcement efforts,
targeting areas of the state that have large motor vehicle theft problems.
Prosecution Grants will be awarded to prosecutorial agencies within the State
of Louisiana to enhance the prosecution of vehicle theft and insurance fraud through
programs designed to increase the number of vehicle theft and insurance fraud cases
by dedicating funding for the hiring of prosecutors, investigators and analysts
to work exclusively on those cases specific to vehicle theft offenses and other
offenses of insurance fraud.
Public Awareness/Fraud Education and Prevention Grants will be awarded to
state agencies, local governing authorities and law enforcement agencies to promote
public awareness and community and student education on vehicle theft prevention
and insurance fraud.
Q. How can I make an application to receive grant funds under the Louisiana Auto Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority?
A. Grant Applications, Grant Award Guidelines and Grant Policies and Procedures will be made available on our Web site in the next couple of months. For further information you may contact Denise Cassano at (225) 342-0819, dcassano@ldi.state.la.us or Kevin Smith at (225) 219-0452, ksmith@ldi.state.la.us.
Q. What other states have an Auto Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority?
A. Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Texas, California, Florida, Maryland, Rhode Island,
Pennsylvania, Arizona, New York, Virginia and Minnesota.
Q. How can I make a donation or provide other assistance to the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority?
A. The Authority may solicit and accept gifts, grants, donations, loans and other assistance from any person or entity, private or public. The Authority may also solicit and accept gifts, grants, donations, loans and other assistance from state or local governments or any agency thereof. Any monetary contributions made to the Authority are to be made payable to the "Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority Fund," a fund established in the State Treasury.
If you need further assistance about making a donation to the Authority or for other assistance, you may contact:
Denise Cassano, Director
Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority
Louisiana Department of Insurance
1702 North Third Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804
(225) 342-0819
dcassano@ldi.state.la.us
Fax: (225) 342-1632
Kevin J. Smith, Assistant Director
Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority
Louisiana Department of Insurance
1702 North Third Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804
(225) 219-0452
ksmith@ldi.state.la.us
Fax: (225) 342-1632
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