An Eyewitness News investigation uncovered several construction injury lawsuits filed by residents of the same buildings in New York City. Builders and contractors claim that this indicates widespread insurance fraud in the city’s construction industry.
The investigation examined hundreds of construction site injury lawsuits in the New York State Public Courts database and found that many were from residents of the same apartment building or house.
For instance, in an Ellis Avenue apartment building in the Bronx, 30 construction injury lawsuits were linked to current or former residents.
In another apartment building on Morrison Avenue, eight lawsuits were discovered, while five others were related to a building on Stratford Avenue.
This information was shared with Michelle Rafeld, executive director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud who stated: “While I can’t comment on specific cases, what I can tell you is that when you are seeing large numbers of individuals living in the same area and living in the same building all having a claim that sends up a very big red flag, but not only is it a red flag for insurance fraud, but it’s a red flag for organized crime”.
Members of the local construction and insurance industry recently gathered on Long Island to discuss what they describe as a troubling trend. Consequently, they expressed concern that many of these lawsuits are fraudulent and pointed out that this type of fraud raises costs for all New Yorkers, by affecting everything from housing to groceries prices.
Brian Sampson, president of the Empire State Chapter of the Associated Builders & Contractors, expressed considerable concerns regarding this situation and stated: “We have a system that allows for fraudulent claims, leads to million dollars settlements and it raises the cost of insurance premiums across the board, thus we need to find a way to get it to stop”.
As the investigation unfolds, officials and industry representatives are working to raise further awareness and push for stronger legal measures to combat what they fear could be a growing concern in the city’s construction industry.
