Seven Detroit firefighters were seriously injured when an office building engulfed in a gasoline-fueled fire collapsed on them. One was paralyzed and several had crushed bones. The man who set the fire did so for a very "simple" reason: the insurance money.
A New York man had the idea to torch both his home and his convertible, all for the insurance money. According to police reports, the man claimed the blaze started when pans on his stove ignited. After trying to extinguish the fire with a rag, he said he threw the first pan out the door, where it landed in the backseat of his convertible, which burst into flames. Then while en route to tossing the second pan outside, he tripped and the pan landed on his couch.
The risk to life can be high in the name of insurance fraud and the economic toll can be enormous. Half of property-casualty companies report that between 11 cents and 30 cents or more of each premium dollar is lost to "soft" fraud alone. The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimates that fraud for all types of insurance costs $80 billion annually, making it the second-largest economic crime in the U.S. after tax evasion.
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