APA Fraud Fighter Quarterly | Winter 2021
APA Executive Director Testifies To Louisiana Lawmakers
APA Executive Director Doug Quinn attended and testified to Louisiana’s Joint Committee on Insurance. Quinn educated state legislators on insurer abuses in the wake of Hurricane Ida.
We believe that insurance is a very important financial tool for the average American to handle a loss that would be catastrophic for them. We just want to see it work the way it was meant to work.”, Quinn stated. The APA’s mission is to defend consumers from insurer fraud, report licensee ethics violations to engineering boards & state insurance departments, as well as work with elected officials to protect policyholders from carrier-side abuses. You can view highlights from Doug’s testimony on the APA’s YouTube channel.
BOARD ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT
STEVE PATRICK
Steve Patrick has been a vocal supporter of the APA mission since the beginning.
Patrick is known in the industry as the Co-founder and CEO of LP Loss Consulting. He was the winner of the 2021 “APA Consumer Advocate Award”. He is currently based out of Frisco, Texas.
Don’t miss Steve speak at IRE on the APA’s behalf on Tues. 2/1/22 at 7:45am. Thank you for all of your hardwork and dedication to the APA!
PROSECUTORS CORNER
An update from Dominic Dugo, the head of the APA SIU
The APA Special Investigative Fraud Unit wishes everyone a Happy and Healthy 2022!
2021 has produced unprecedented rapid growth by APA to put into action the “best of class” anti-fraud team in the industry. Collectively, your SIU Team has approximately 150 years of law enforcement experience at work to protect homeowners from being victims of insurance fraud.
Our SIU is composed of 1 Former District Attorney Prosecutor; 4 Former Law Enforcement Officers coming from the California Highway Patrol, District Attorney’s Office, and Department of Insurance; and 2 Law Clerks from Rutgers Law School. Our law enforcement team all worked extensively in the insurance fraud arena. With the SIU team in place and fully supported by APA, we look forward to outstanding anti-fraud results in 2022.
Chief Investigator Appointed to APA SIU
Meet Nancy Dodd
Nancy Dodd M.S. is a retired supervising fraud investigator for the San Diego District Attorney‘s office & a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and is now serving the community as the APA Chief Investigator.
A former police sergeant, detective, and insurance fraud criminal investigator for the California highway patrol, Nancy is an adjunct professor at Southwestern College where she teaches criminology to police recruits.
Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Management from Union Institute & University as well as a Masters of Science in Law Enforcement & Public Safety Management from the University of San Diego.
Nancy rounds out a fraud investigation team at the APA SIU that is already staffed with seasoned investigators and fraud fighters. Their critical mission of investigating carrier-side criminal fraud is sure to be enhanced by the addition of Nancy Dodd to the team.
Learn more about the APA Staff and SIU by clicking the button below.
KEEP AN EYE OUT
The AEREP GUIDE IS AVAILABLE NOW
Thanks to APA Board Advisor Don Wood, the anticipated AEREP Guide is available now.
This tool can be used to guide industry professionals and policyholders through the process of evaluating engineer reports.
AEREP facilitates analysis of carrier-hired engineer reports to detect potential ethics violations and fraud. The user is then guided to report these infractions to licensing boards or criminal investigators. The AEREP Guide is available for all APA members to download for free along with other APA consumer guides on our website under the “Resources” tab.
Where have you seen the APA?
APA
The APA team at the Roofing Process Conference in Florida. during the two day event, we signed up new members, while catching up with our members and board advisors!
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The APA team in Washington, DC with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody
The APA team in Washington, DC with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser
NAAG Symposium
April 25th-27th
PPAANJ
May 11th
Policyholders Preservation
Association of Americans
May 18th-20th
APA Summit 2022
TBD
DETAILS COMING SOON
Don’t forget to use the hashtag #APAOnTheMove when you see us out and about!
A WORD FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Doug Quinn
As we move into 2022, I am very excited about our progress
in the year we are closing out. The APA, although still a new
organization, is building a strong reputation as a leading
consumer protection organization.
We have been invited to testify on insurer fraud by multiple state legislatures & have been interviewed by some of America’s leading news outlets including the New York Times and Fortune magazine.
The APA has hosted multiple Attorneys General at events & met with many more to discuss our mission. Most importantly, we have built and expanded the nation’s first-ever Special Investigations Unit that exclusively represents you, the consumer. The APA’s cutting-edge SIU has already referred several cases to prosecutors & we are eagerly following their progress.
There’s been many more big accomplishments that space does not allow us to go into here, but if you’ve been attending our quarterly member conference calls and following us on social media you have seen just how big of a watershed year this has been.
I would like to wish the entire APA family a wonderful 2022 & thank you all for standing up to defend the American Consumer.
FRAUD FIGHTING TIP OF THE SEASON
KEEP RECORDS OF EVERYTHING
Create and maintain a ‘Claim Diary’. Basic protocol in fighting bureaucracy is that every time you speak to someone, have a notepad and pen handy.
Log the date, time, name of the person you spoke to and a summary of the conversation. Be sure to report all suspected incidents of insurer fraud to the APA Special Investigation Unit on the tools section of the APA website.
GET THE LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES
FOLLOW the APA ON SOCIAL
FBI Raids Allstate in Quake Probe
Federal investigators armed with search warrants have descended on Allstate Insurance Co. offices in three states, including its Northbrook headquarters, in a criminal probe related to the 1994 California earthquake, the company confirmed Monday. (via Chicago Tribune)
Groundbreaking article published by carrier group about APA impact
Insurers, policyholders must unite against doctored storm claims.
State Farm Ducks Racketeering Trial With $250 Million Accord
State Farm agreed to pay $250 million on the brink of a trial to customers who claimed the company tried to rig the Illinois justice system to wipe out a $1 billion jury verdict from 19 years ago.
Insurance Claim Delays Deliver Massive Profits To Industry By Shorting Customers
Unlike many other businesses, the insurance industry is bound by law to act in good faith with its customers. Because of their protective role in the lives of ordinary citizens, insurers have long operated as semi-public trusts. But since the mid-1990s, a new profit-hungry model, combined with weak regulation, has upended that ancient social contract. (Via HuffPost)