§ 4750. Insurer anti-fraud plans
(a) Every insurer with direct written premiums shall prepare, implement, and maintain
an insurance anti-fraud plan. Each insurer’s anti-fraud plan shall outline specific
procedures, appropriate to the type of insurance the insurer writes in this State,
to:
(1) Prevent, detect, and investigate all forms of insurance fraud, including fraud involving
the insurer’s employees or agents; fraud resulting from misrepresentations in the
application, renewal, or rating of insurance policies; claims fraud; and security
of the insurer’s data processing systems.
(2) Educate appropriate employees on fraud detection and the insurer’s anti-fraud plan.
(3) Provide for the hiring of or contracting for fraud investigators.
(4) Report insurance fraud to appropriate law enforcement and regulatory authorities in
the investigation and prosecution of insurance fraud.
(5) Where appropriate, pursue restitution for financial loss caused by insurance fraud.
(6) Ensure that applicable State and federal privacy laws are complied with and that the
confidential personal and financial information of consumers and insureds is protected.
(7) Comply with such other procedures as the Commissioner may require by rule.
(b) The Commissioner may require an insurer to file annually its anti-fraud plan with
the Department and an annual summary of the insurer’s anti-fraud activities and results,
including misclassification and miscoding. A workers’ compensation insurer shall file
an anti-fraud plan with the Department of Labor, including information about fraud
investigations, referrals, or prosecutions involving Vermont workers’ compensation
claims, misclassifications, and miscoding, if requested by the Commissioner of Labor.
Information regarding fraud investigations and referrals shall not be public unless
the Commissioner of Labor or the Attorney General commences administrative or criminal
proceedings. As used in this subsection:
(1) “Misclassification” means improperly classifying employees as independent contractors
for the purposes of workers’ compensation insurance or unemployment insurance, as
the context dictates.
(2) “Miscoding” means the improper categorization of employees under the National Council
on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) worker classification codes, which account for varying
levels of risk attributable to different job types for the purposes of determining
workers’ compensation insurance premiums.
(c) This section confers no private rights of action. This section does not affect private
rights of action conferred under other laws or court decisions.
(d) Enforcement. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the following are
the exclusive monetary penalties for violation of this section. Insurers that fail
to prepare, implement, maintain, or submit to the Department of Financial Regulation
an insurance anti-fraud plan are subject to a penalty of $500.00 per day, not to exceed
$10,000.00. (Added 2005, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2007; amended 2007, No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)