Runner Scams

• A car insurance scam involving a runner uses a staged accident to initiate a false claim against an innocent victim's insurance company. The runner, also known as a capper, recruits participants to cause an accident and then refers the other party involved in the accident to a specific lawyer or doctor. The lawyer or doctor follows up with the victim, insisting that everything is fine. Without the victim's knowledge, the doctor or lawyer files a claim against the victim's insurance and keeps the money despite performing no services. The doctor or lawyer then pays the runner out of these earnings.
  
  

Other Participants

• Runners serve as intermediaries between the other participants in a car insurance scam. They work for the doctor or lawyer who ultimately files a fraudulent claim against a victim's insurance company. The runner is also responsible for finding people to take part in a staged accident, usually offering a cash payment and giving instructions about how to cause the accident, and how to react afterward. Runners generally target drivers whose vehicles indicate a high level of insurance, such as luxury cars and commercial vehicles, which are likely to be insured through a business.
  
  

Laws and Policies

• Insurance runners facilitate insurance fraud, which is illegal. Some states, such as Texas, make it specifically illegal for doctors and lawyers to solicit car accident victims within one month of an accident. Others, such as Connecticut, make it illegal for professionals to hire runners to solicit business for them. In 2002 the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud drafted a model bill to allow states to adopt harsher measures against runners. The sample law penalizes runners by making their activity a felony.
  
  

Avoiding Runners

• Drivers can take steps to avoid insurance runners and the fraudulent claims they bring. Knowing how to identify a runner is key. As a victim, you would interact with the runner after an accident but before you leave the scene. The runner will likely give you a business card that lists the name and contact information of a professional and urge you to follow up with that person in the near future. If you're not sure if you've been the victim of an insurance scam, go to your own doctor instead, or follow up with your insurance company after an accident so there are no suspicious claims against your policy.