More drivers on the road during summer months means more car crashes, but not all of them may be for real.

More than 800 insurance claims in Sacramento County in the fiscal year ended June 30 are suspect and may have involved staged collisions, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced Thursday. The 802 suspected fraudulent claims in 2007-08 is down from 856 a year earlier, but up from 788 in 2005-06, the state insurance regulator announced.

This translates to potential losses of $5.6 million in the last fiscal year alone.

Statewide, 14,623 out of 23,734 — 61 percent — of the insurance fraud referrals received by the state agency in the last fiscal year were suspected automobile insurance fraud.

People who create pre-planned accidents are known as “stagers.” They look for high-value targets such as commercial vehicles, expensive luxury cars or vehicles owned by cities or counties. They are considered high value because of the virtual guarantee of insurance coverage.

Possible tip-offs of fraudulent activity include:

• The other car is packed with passengers

• The other driver has a relatively new insurance policy

• The other car is in poor condition or has a “salvage” title

• Traffic is flowing smoothly and the other driver stopped suddenly

• The other driver and/or the passengers make extra effort to avoid conversation about the other vehicles in the area • There is a witness that substantiates everything the other driver says, and

• The other driver and his passenger all claim injury despite relatively minor collision damage to the vehicles.

If fraud is suspected, the victim should insist on a police report, document as much information about the scene as possible, ask police to positively identify everybody involved, and report it to the California Department of Insurance at 800-927-4357.
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