Much has been written, litigated, and discussed about auto insurance rates in New York state and the role of no-fault insurance in pushing in into the realm of luxury for the average consumer.

Several news services have been consistent in covering the indictments and investigations conducted in the fight against perpetrators of fraud. Emphasis has been placed on certain medical providers, who have become the faces of no-fault fraud, the villains in this scheme to defraud the public. Although most people familiar with the current situation would agree that, on the whole, the medical providers have been the single most influential group in moving the system toward its present state, they have not been alone in their culpability.

New York State's automobile insurance laws are among the most comprehensive in the country, providing relief for insureds, innocent third parties, and all other classes of claimants. The regulation governing no-fault benefits is just as encompassing, to the extent that benefits are provided, in certain circumstances, for family members who were injured while in vehicles other than the ones owned by the households (e.g., passengers on a bus). It is this very comprehensive nature, the emphasis on making sure that eligible injured parties can obtain relief, that makes no-fault susceptible to the type of fraud being perpetrated today.