(1) For purposes of this title 10, articles 40 to 47 of title 8, articles 200, 215, 220, 240, 245, 270, 275, 285, 290, and 300 of title 12, part 1 of article 255 of title 12, and article 20 of title 44, a fraudulent insurance act is committed if a person knowingly and with intent to defraud presents, causes to be presented, or prepares with knowledge or belief that it will be presented to or by an insurer, a purported insurer, or any producer thereof any written statement as part or in support of an application for the issuance or the rating of an insurance policy or a claim for payment or other benefit pursuant to an insurance policy that the person knows to contain false information concerning any fact material thereto or if the person knowingly and with intent to defraud or mislead conceals information concerning any fact material thereto. For purposes of this section, "written statement" includes a client medical record as such term is defined in section 18-4-412 (2)(a) and any bill for medical services.
(2) (a) The general assembly finds and declares that insurance fraud is expensive; that it increases premiums and places businesses at risk; and that it reduces consumers' ability to raise their standards of living and decreases the economic vitality of this state. The general assembly further finds and declares that the state of Colorado must aggressively confront the problem of insurance fraud by facilitating the detection of and reducing the occurrence of fraud through stricter enforcement and deterrence and by encouraging greater cooperation among consumers, the insurance industry, and the state in coordinating efforts to combat insurance fraud.
(b) Colorado has addressed insurance fraud in various statutes, including but not limited to the civil and administrative provisions found in this section, part 4 of article 2 of this title, parts 1, 2, 9, and 11 of article 3 of this title, and numerous other provisions of this title. It has also been addressed in criminal provisions found in parts 1, 2, and 3 of article 2 of title 18, part 1 of article 4 of title 18, part 1 of article 5 of title 18, and section 18-5-205, C.R.S. These statutory provisions impose regulatory oversight and severe civil and criminal penalties on authorized and unauthorized insurance companies and other persons who commit insurance fraud. The purpose of this section is to further improve regulatory oversight of licensed persons who commit insurance fraud and provide additional remedies to aggrieved persons.
An allegation of a fraudulent insurance act shall not excuse an insurance companyfrom its duty to promptly investigate a claim.
(a) Each insurance company licensed to do business in this state that, in a lawsuit involving a fraudulent insurance act, obtains a judgment or settlement against a person who is licensed by the state of Colorado and whose services are compensated in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by insurance claim proceeds shall send notice of such settlement or judgment to the appropriate Colorado state licensing board, in the form prescribed by the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies. No cause of action shall arise against any insurance company or individual for providing information as provided in this subsection (4).
Every person who, in a lawsuit involving a fraudulent insurance act, obtains a judgment or settlement against a person who is licensed by the state of Colorado and whose services are compensated in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by insurance claim proceeds, may send to the appropriate Colorado state licensing board notice of such settlement or judgment. No cause of action shall arise against any person for providing information as provided in this subsection (4).
Every person who obtains a judgment or settlement involving a fraudulent insuranceact by an insurance company or an agent of an insurance company may send to the Colorado division of insurance within the department of regulatory agencies notice of such judgment or settlement, including any evidence of a fraudulent insurance act. No cause of action shall arise against any person for providing information as provided in this subsection (4).
(5) (a) Every licensed insurance company doing business in Colorado shall prepare, implement, and maintain an insurance anti-fraud plan; except that this subsection (5) shall not apply to entities whose principal business is the assumption of reinsurance, reinsurance agreements, or reinsurance claims transactions. Insurance companies approved by the commissioner under article 5 of this title may be required, as a condition of such approval, to maintain an insurance anti-fraud plan. Each anti-fraud plan shall outline specific procedures, appropriate to the type of insurance provided by the insurance company in Colorado, to:
Prevent, detect, and investigate all forms of insurance fraud, including fraud by theinsurance company's employees and agents, fraud resulting from false representations or omissions of material fact in the application for insurance, renewal documents, or rating of insurance policies, claims fraud, and security of the insurance company's data processing systems;
Educate appropriate employees about fraud detection and the company's anti-fraudplan;
Provide for the hiring of or contracting for one or more fraud investigators;
Report suspected or actual insurance fraud to the appropriate law enforcement andregulatory entities in the investigation and prosecution of insurance fraud.
The commissioner of insurance may review a licensed insurance company's antifraud plan in connection with a market conduct examination to determine whether such plan complies with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection (5).
Every licensed insurance company doing business in this state shall include, as partof its annual report as required in section 10-3-109, a summary of its anti-fraud efforts as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (5).
The anti-fraud plan of an insurance company and the summary of anti-fraud effortsprepared as required in paragraph (c) of this subsection (5) are not public records and are exempted from article 72 of title 24, C.R.S.; are proprietary and not subject to public examination; and are not discoverable or admissible under the Colorado rules of civil procedure in any civil litigation.
Any insurance company or producer of an insurance company that has committed afraudulent insurance act shall be subject to available disciplinary action by the commissioner of insurance.
The responsibility of an insurance company under this section to prevent, detect, andinvestigate insurance fraud shall not excuse its duty to comply with section 10-3-1104 or any other applicable insurance law.
(6) (a) Each insurance company shall provide on all printed applications for insurance, or on all insurance policies, or on all claim forms provided and required by an insurance company, or required by law, whether printed or electronically transmitted, a statement, in conspicuous nature, permanently affixed to the application, insurance policy, or claim form substantially the same as the following:
It is unlawful to knowingly provide false, incomplete, or misleading facts or information to an insurance company for the purpose of defrauding or attempting to defraud the company. Penalties may include imprisonment, fines, denial of insurance, and civil damages. Any insurance company or agent of an insurance company who knowingly provides false, incomplete, or misleading facts or information to a policyholder or claimant for the purpose of defrauding or attempting to defraud the policyholder or claimant with regard to a settlement or award payable from insurance proceeds shall be reported to the Colorado division of insurance within the department of regulatory agencies.
(b) This subsection (6) shall not apply to reinsurance contracts, reinsurance agreements, or reinsurance claims transactions.
Source: L. 2003: Entire article RC&RE, p. 601, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2006: (2)(b) amended, p. 1489, § 8, effective June 1. L. 2019: (1) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1651, § 31, effective October 1. L. 2020: (1) amended, (HB 20-1183), ch. 157, p. 695, § 32, effective July 1; (1) amended, (HB 20-1230), ch. 274, p. 1347, § 14, effective September 14.
Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 10-1-127 as it existed prior to 2002.
(2) Amendments to subsection (1) by HB 20-1183 and HB 20-1230 were harmonized.