{"id":40132,"date":"2026-04-09T14:43:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=40132"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:43:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:43:59","slug":"governor-hochul-announces-partnership-between-state-police-and-department-of-financial-services-to-crack-down-on-insurance-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/40132","title":{"rendered":"Governor Hochul announces partnership between state police and department of financial services to crack down on insurance fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York State Police and Department of Financial Services will partner to crack down on insurance fraud by hosting a specialized training to further strengthen the skills of its investigators, and local law enforcement professionals across the state so they can better detect, investigate, and prosecute financial crimes, including auto insurance fraud.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This partnership builds on the Governor\u2019s commitment to tackling insurance fraud and the high cost of auto insurance.<\/p>\n

The new program, developed in partnership with the New York State Department of Financial Services and prosecutors, will provide training to 250 members of law enforcement, including State Police investigators and uniformed troopers, as well as representatives from law enforcement agencies throughout New York State.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic safety is my number one priority. That is why I’m cracking down on fraud and deceptive practices that put New Yorkers at risk and drive up costs. New training, developed in partnership between the New York State Police and the Department of Financial Services, will provide agencies with stronger, better tools to detect, investigate, and stop fraud,\u201d\u00a0Governor Hochul said.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThese efforts, along with my proposals to combat insurance fraud and reduce vehicle insurance premiums, all serve one simple goal: Making New York safer and more affordable for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThis symposium will serve to enhance our statewide investigatory capacity to identify and investigate these types of crimes, often perpetrated against the most vulnerable of New Yorkers. By providing enhanced awareness and training to our members in the field, we will foster more effective partnerships with the DFS and local authorities, leading to more complex investigations, increased arrests, and a measurable reduction in fraud, directly supporting Governor Hochul\u2019s goals to lower auto insurance costs for New York residents,\u201d said New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cCombating insurance fraud takes the full force of state government working together, which is what this partnership delivers. Governor Hochul has made clear that protecting New Yorkers from the rising cost of insurance fraud is a priority. DFS is proud to share our expertise and collaborate with State Police to turn that commitment into action,\u201d said New York State Department of Financial Services Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow.<\/p>\n

The symposium, slated for July at the New York State Police Academy in Albany, will address financial crimes and multiple categories of insurance fraud, including auto insurance, along with investigations involving deceptive contractors and elder fraud.<\/p>\n

The training will feature an overview of relevant insurance fraud statutes, case studies, and practical instruction from the New York State Police BCI Financial Crimes and Special Investigation Units (SIU) on core investigative techniques.<\/p>\n

The program builds upon an established partnership between the Division of State Police and the Department of Financial Services.<\/p>\n

The New York State Police Financial Crimes Unit, part of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, works with the DFS Insurance Frauds Bureau to address the rise in auto insurance fraud cases, which are prevalent in New York City\u2019s five boroughs. As a result of this new training, New York State Police investigators will be positioned to better investigate cases beyond the five boroughs.<\/p>\n

New Yorkers pay some of the highest car insurance rates in the nation \u2014 more than $4,000 annually on average, nearly $1,500 above the national average.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s crushingly high premiums are a direct result of outdated and anomalous laws that enable fraud and encourage expensive litigation, and put New York out of step with other states. Insurance carriers reported 43,811 incidents of suspected motor vehicle insurance fraud to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) Insurance Frauds Bureau in 2025. This is up from 24,238 incidents of suspected motor vehicle insurance fraud in 2020, an 80 percent increase in five years.<\/p>\n

The Insurance Information Institute has estimated that reforms that limit instances of fraud could reduce auto insurance rates by around $300 per policy, a reduction to the statewide annual rate of nearly 8 percent.<\/p>\n

Governor Hochul is taking a whole-of-government approach to crack down on auto insurance fraud, limit damages paid out to bad actors and ensure that consumers, not insurance companies, are prioritized.<\/p>\n

The New York State Police remain committed to safeguarding New Yorkers through proactive enforcement, strategic partnerships, and continuous professional development. By increasing awareness, training, and fostering cross-agency collaboration, the New York State Police will crack down on bad actors who are driving up these costs at the expense of New Yorkers. Upon completion of the initial training session, the specialized training block will be permanently incorporated into the New York State Police BCI school curriculum for all future investigators.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Coalition Against Insurance Fraud supports Governor Kathy Hochul\u2019s comprehensive approach, recognizing that enhanced training and stronger coordination between the New York State Police and the Department of Financial Services are essential to disrupting increasingly sophisticated insurance fraud schemes. These efforts will help protect consumers and reduce the rising costs driven by fraud,\u201d Coalition Against Insurance Fraud Executive Director Michelle Rafeld.<\/p>\n

\u201cInsurance fraud hurts honest New Yorkers, threatens safety on roadways, diminishes the quality of health care in our state and adds financial burdens to New York families. Governor Hochul\u2019s announcement represents a meaningful step forward in addressing this challenge. Specialized training and cross-agency collaboration are critical to combating insurance fraud. Expanding these efforts across law enforcement will strengthen investigative capabilities and improve coordination. By equipping investigators with the tools and training needed to identify and prosecute fraud, New York is better positioned to hold bad actors accountable. Efforts like these are essential to improving affordability in the state and protecting consumers,\u201d said New York Insurance Association President Cassandra Anderson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York State Police and Department of Financial Services will partner to crack down on insurance fraud by hosting a specialized training to further strengthen the skills of its investigators, and local law enforcement professionals across the state so they can better detect, investigate, and prosecute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":40133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40132"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40135,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40132\/revisions\/40135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}