New Atlanta police policy on noninjury wrecks could be a 'recipe' for fraud
The decision to not to send officers to noninjury accidents could open the door for fraudulent auto and bodily injury claims.
The Atlanta Police Department’s recent announcement that it will no longer send officers to auto accident scenes where there are no reported injuries over COVID-19 exposure risks has raised some concerns among both plaintiffs’ and defense lawyers who handle motor vehicle torts.
One partner at a large defense firm termed it a “recipe” for fraud claims and foresaw a rise in personal injury claims for nonexistent injuries.
Meanwhile, plaintiffs lawyers told ALM sister site Daily Report that the lack of a trained officer analyzing accidents and interviewing witnesses would make it more difficult to figure out what happened and allocate fault, even if the parties follow APD guidelines and fill out a two-page accident report available through the city’s website.
“My first impression is that it’s probably not going to be much of a problem for personal injury lawyers if nobody’s hurt,” said Slappey & Sadd partner Jay Sadd. “But how do you know if someone was hurt by the wreck if a trained third party like the police don’t investigate, gather the facts and report?”
The responsibility of involved parties
APD Sgt. John Chaffee said in an email the policy had been under consideration since March “in an effort to protect our officers and the public from unnecessary close contact with others.”
Chaffee said the department responds to about 1,080 accidents every month, with “just over 100 of those involving significant injuries.”
While some of the rest involve minor injuries, he said “it is safe to say we respond to a significant number of fender bender accidents each month where no injuries have occurred. The decision was made to suspend our response to these minor accidents.”
The responsibility for reporting such accidents now falls to those involved, he said.
“Officers will still respond to hit and run accidents, accidents where someone is injured and accidents where safety is a concern, such as those where a vehicle was disabled and is causing a dangerous traffic hazard,” Chaffee said.
He provided a list of guidelines for those involved or reporting an accident to follow, including taking photos of the wreck, exchanging insurance information and filling out a two-page accident report accessible through the city’s ATL311 website.
A media representative for State Farm Insurance in Georgia said he inquired about the issue and that “police reports can be helpful in the course of investigating an individual claim, but the lack of a police report does not prevent State Farm from resolving a claim for our customer.”
‘Recipe for some fraud’
Jonathan Adelman with defense firm Waldon Adelman Castilla Hiestand & Prout, which handles an array of claims for insurers, was less sanguine.
“I certainly understand the reason for the policy,” said Adelman. “Certainly, slowing the spread of the pandemic to our law enforcement officers should be a top priority of our community.”
But, Adelman said, he feared “this will be a recipe for some fraud. There will be some who will get the word out (perhaps via television advertisements) and encourage potential claimants to take advantage of this temporary police policy.”
“I expect there to be some uptick in personal injury claims arising from accidents which may have never actually occurred,” he said.
“I also think this may cause some folks to mistakenly believe that there is no reason to report an accident to their insurers, despite policy language which requires prompt notification.”
Sadd, the Slappey & Sadd partner, said he would like to know more about how police respond to a report of an accident. “If somebody calls and says, ‘there’s been an accident but nobody’s hurt,’ is that enough? Will the 911 operator insist on talking to both parties?” he asked.
“Even if they both report that there are no injuries, there are still property damages issues,” Sadd said. “Who were the witnesses? What did they say? What was the level of property damage? It’s still good to have a third party there to sort out who’s at fault.”
Sadd also noted many accident-related injuries aren’t noticed until afterward, sometimes weeks later. “I’ve seen some huge crashes where people don’t think they’re hurt; that happens a lot,” he said. “Their adrenaline levels are high, they’re excited — an hour later, a day later, they can’t walk.”
“We all rely heavily on police reports,” Sadd added. “I can see insurers denying liability, people filing false claims. Fact-finding is how you determine truth in liability. I just don’t think this is good for the system.”
Arthur York spent several years at defense firm Swift Currie before moving over to the plaintiffs’ side a few years ago and recently launched his own solo personal injury practice.
“My first impression is that it’s obviously not a good thing for personal injury claimants, because the first thing the insurance company looks for is a police report. Ninety-nine out of 100 times, if they get a report that doesn’t put sole liability on their insured, they’re going to deny the claim,” York said.
He also noted that no report means no driver was cited.
While evidence that a party pleaded not guilty or no contest to a traffic violation is not admissible in court, if someone pleads guilty that citation may be introduced as rebuttable presumption of liability.
“From a practical standpoint, if there’s no officer there’s no investigation,” York said. “you just have to hope your client exchanged information with the other driver.”
And there’s no guarantee that other driver will provide accurate information, or any at all. “If they say, ‘Screw you, I’m outta here,’ there’s not much you can do,” York said.
York said his “biggest concern” is “guidance from APD on what an injury crash is.” “How do they know before they get there? Are you bleeding from your head, are bones sticking out?” he asked. “A lot of folks get in wrecks and their idea of being hurt means a catastrophic injury or lost limb.”
“I also think this is going to impact the high-volume folks; a lot of times a lawyer won’t even look at a case unless they find a beneficial police report,” York added.
Insurers, he said, are more likely to take a hit when their policyholders make a claim and they have to cover damages with no report or investigation to bolster their efforts to get their money back from an at-fault driver.
“From a property-damage standpoint insurers are going to have an issue getting their money back,” he said.
“If you have comprehensive collision coverage, they’ll pay the damages then subrogate the claim to the other driver. If they can’t recoup their money, your own premiums may go up.”
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