The Iowa Insurance Division & Fraud Bureau is charged with investigating financial crimes in violation of the insurance laws of the State of Iowa. The Bureau is staffed by full-time law enforcement officers and is currently led by Bureau Chief Matt Mortvedt. Fraud Bureau investigators are trained to investigate referrals covering all lines of insurance, including but not
limited to auto, property & casualty, life, healthcare, and disability.  The Bureau has one criminal intelligence analyst and six full-time investigators, with two specifically dedicated to Workers'
Compensation referrals.

During calendar year 2022, the Fraud Bureau received 1079 referrals of insurance and securities fraud from multiple sources including insurance companies, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, law enforcement, fire marshals, other state government entities, and concerned citizens.
Even with only 9% of the referrals attaching a value to the loss, the financial impact reported was a loss of over $10.5 million with an actual loss amount of over $5.7 million. Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Investigators made 36 arrests on 108 charges.
 
Insurance fraud was not isolated to any specific geographic region of the state. Of Iowa’s 99 counties, 90 had referrals of insurance fraud taking place. Polk County led all others with 232 referrals, with Linn and Scott County following with 82 and 72 referrals respectively. 

In 2022, auto claims made up the bulk of referrals to the Fraud Bureau. Most of these involved the purchase or attempted purchase of insurance coverage after a loss or turning in existing damage as new. Property and Casualty claims were around half the number of referrals, but with
a much greater amount of actual loss. Most P&C referrals related to inflated item values following a loss and losses that did not occur in the first place.

Currently in 2023, there have been 775 referrals of insurance and securities fraud. To date, there have been 23 arrests on 92 counts of insurance fraud.
 
Any Iowans who wish to report possible insurance fraud or have questions about what constitutes fraud should contact the Fraud Bureau at (515) 654-6556 or via email at Fraud@iid.iowa.gov