Austin, TX – The Texas Department of Insurance’s Fraud Unit now has a new case management system that is speeding the processing of fraud reports and reducing paperwork.
Sgt. Michael Lang said the new system, which went online in August, will help the Fraud Unit keep pace with the more than 10,000 reports referred to TDI each year. One of the biggest benefits from the system is the automatic download of data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
“With our old system, staff downloaded reports and manually made entries to them,” said Lang, manager for the project. “Now the reports are downloaded overnight and the system also generates email messages to let complaining parties know that TDI has the case.”
In its first week online, the new system cut intake processing time in half – putting fraud reports into the hands of investigators much faster.
Lang said about 80 percent of cases of suspected fraud reported to TDI are from insurers. The Fraud Unit also responds to complaints from the public.
The new system will help the Fraud Unit to better manage cases as they are investigated and prosecuted. Lang said the software automatically captures the names of all entities involved in cases – not just the names of suspects. The data helps build a case and becomes part of an electronic file which prosecutors can easily access when it is needed.
“We can hand everything over to the prosecutor on a CD,” Lang said. “It helps if they don’t have to rifle through a bunch of banker boxes looking for paper files.”
TDI investigators are certified peace officers and work closely with local authorities when investigating fraud cases. You can report suspected cases of insurance fraud to TDI by calling the Consumer Help Line at 1-800-252-3439 or by visiting www.tdi.texas.gov/fraud/report.html.
Source: TDI