The Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (IFPA) was created by an Act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1995. This Act established IFPA as an independent Commonwealth agency whose sole purpose is to combat insurance fraud throughout the state.
See the complete IFPA Act (PDF, 311 KB)
Mission
Since the IFPA’s inception, the organization has evolved into a highly collaborative network that enlists the talents of some of our Commonwealth’s most experienced fraud-fighting professionals.
The IFPA mission is three-fold. The Authority helps provide law enforcement and prosecutors the necessary resources to fight insurance fraud in the Commonwealth, works to prevent consumer fraud through public awareness, and advises the Governor and the General Assembly on the nature and scope of the insurance fraud problem in Pennsylvania.
Strategy
The Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Protection Authority is funded by annual assessments levied on all insurance companies that write policies within our state. While the IFPA’s work benefits all citizens of Pennsylvania‚ no taxpayer dollars are used to support its efforts.
The majority of the IFPA’s budget is directed toward funding fraud-fighting units that investigate and prosecute insurance fraud. Currently‚ the IFPA commits $14.4 million annually to the support of 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the state. The IFPA also invests almost $1 million dollars each year in fraud prevention initiatives‚ such as public education to discourage instances of opportunistic fraud before they even occur.
Effectiveness
The IFPA’s strategic allocation of resources has paid dividends in the fight against insurance fraud in Pennsylvania.
In 2021, IFPA grantees received a total of 4,067 complaints of suspected fraud. Grantees made 393 arrests and prosecuted 364 defendants. These efforts yielded $1,379,502 in restitution to insurance fraud victims and in civil penalties.
Referrals in the commonwealth reflected all lines of insurance, including:
- 1,995 auto insurance
- 547 commercial property/liability
- 339 homeowners and/or renters insurance
- 222 workers’ compensation
- 144 healthcare
- 37 life insurance
- 823 other
(Information presented is current through December 2021)
The IFPA’s public outreach and education have also been beneficial to the Commonwealth. Research has been undertaken to track public awareness of the issue of insurance fraud and identify pockets of opportunity within our state’s population where opportunistic fraud can be effectively discouraged. In October 2015‚ the IFPA developed and launched a new prevention campaign titled “See How They Lie” which is being monitored for its effectiveness toward this end through regular follow-up research.
Learn more about the IFPA Public Awareness Campaign
Investigative Units
The IFPA’s rationale for supporting law enforcement is simple‚ yet strategic. This funding supports the professionals who aggressively investigate and prosecute insurance fraud criminals. That’s precisely why the selected insurance fraud units receive financial resources from the IFPA for personnel‚ training‚ equipment and expenses.
These include an Insurance Fraud Section in the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and an insurance fraud unit in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office‚ as well as other state and local level fraud prosecution and fraud prevention programs.
Grants fund insurance fraud units in Allegheny‚ Bucks, Cumberland‚ Delaware‚ Erie‚ Lehigh‚ Philadelphia and York counties‚ as well as a Lackawanna County task force covering eleven northeastern counties. The IFPA also extends grants to the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall to support arson investigations and to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to support examinations of the anti-fraud programs of insurers.