NICB, Oklahoma insurance department work to prevent fraud as 23,000 claims filed in state after tornado

The National Insurance Crime Bureau is working with Oklahoma’s state insurance agency to educate residents about fraud, after about 23,000 claims have been filed following devastating tornadoes and storm events earlier this month.

The Oklahoma Insurance Department, which oversees the insurance industry in the state, has reported that property and auto insurance claims related to the May 19 and 20 tornadoes have reached about 23,000, many involving vehicles.

“We have potential for fraudulent impounders coming in and taking these vehicles and the owners and insurance companies don’t know where they are,” NICB Special Agent Mark Wenthold noted in a statement Friday.  

“If the Vehicle Identification Numbers aren’t recorded, the cars can end up being crushed and the VINs used on stolen vehicles in the weeks and months ahead.”

The NICB said its representatives and Insurance Commissioner John Doak have toured the destruction in the city of Moore and are working with local law enforcement agencies and insurers to look out for potential fraud by contractors and towing firms.

“We’ve learned from previous disasters in Oklahoma,” Doak noted in the statement. “We’ve sent a very strong message that we take insurance fraud very seriously. We’re active with our vehicles coming through the area.”

“Our folks are in uniform and plain clothes, in marked and unmarked vehicles,” he added. “NICB has helped train local law enforcement on insurance fraud and we’re all working together to make it known that we don’t tolerate this in our state.”

According to Doak, towing companies need to have background investigations and be registered with local law enforcement. The commissioner said he’s satisfied that the laws in place are helping protect Oklahomans.

Cleanup efforts are still underway in the state. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will pay 85% of debris removal costs for the first 30 days, then will pay smaller percentages of debris removal costs after that, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

The state’s governor Mary Fallin has also signed legislation directing $45 million from the state’s Constitutional Reserve Fund to the State Emergency Fund for ongoing recovery and infrastructure rebuilding efforts.