Insurance officials in several states say they've seen a notable increase in auto-insurance fraud over the past few years, a phenomenon they attribute to growing desperation over the economy. While officials say it's typically easy to tell when someone has burned their own car to cover up fraud, vehicle-related arson is up 62.3% in Ohio between 2004 and 2007, and other states have seen similar upticks. "Morally, these people find it easy to rationalize torching their car, because they don't view insurance fraud as a real, live crime," said Coalition Against Insurance Fraud representative James Quiggle. "They don't consider the cost of these crimes are being passed on to all the policyholders in the form of higher premiums."
Dayton Daily News
