Pre-Insurance
Inspection Report Log-In
In response
to a public outcry over skyrocketing costs of automobile
insurance, the New York
State legislature passed a law during the Summer of 1977,
which was commonly referred to as the "Photo Inspection Law."
This anti-fraud
statute was designed to help reduce auto insurance costs by
preventing issuing policies for
non-existent (phantom) automobiles and deterring
fraudulent and exaggerated automobile damage claims. The law
required that all vehicles with
physical damage insurance coverage (fire, theft, collision or
comprehensive) be inspected by a representative of the insurance
carrier at the inception of coverage. The inspection includes a
verification of the Vehicle Identification Number, list of
options and accessories, description of any damage on the
vehicle, photographs of the EPA
sticker, and the vehicle itself.
Insurance fraud costs the motoring public millions of dollars
each year. To learn more about how vehicle
pre-insurance inspection combats insurance fraud, read
Photo
Inspection: First line, of defense against vehicle insurance
fraud.
In the fall of 1977, CARCO Group, Inc., a privately-held
corporation, was founded to provide
inspection service to the insurance community. An initial
network of more than 1,000 inspection stations was set
up throughout the State of New York
to serve the convenience of the motoring public.
The success of this law in reducing the
number of fraudulent claims in New York influenced the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
and the State of New Jersey
to implement similar inspection
programs respectively. CARCO quickly responded to this new
marketing opportunity and established comprehensive physical
damage inspection site networks and programs to virtually mirror
that of New York.
The State of Florida
was next to implement a limited version of the vehicle
inspection program. CARCO immediately expanded its service to
meet the inspection needs of the insurance carriers in
Florida by providing the most cost-efficient
and expansive inspection service available in the state,
including an extensive inspection site network and state-of-the
art computer communications.
In March of 1994, two significant events occurred
related to pre-insurance vehicle inspection.
First, the State of Rhode
Island implemented a Vehicle Pre-Insurance Inspection
Program. As it had done in the past, CARCO responded to this new
market by opening an extensive inspection site network. CARCO
also acquired
Autocheck, a major
competitor in this market and, as a result of the merger of
Autocheck's inspection site network with that of CARCO's, an
industry-leading national
site network in excess of 4,000
locations was created.
On July 20, 1995, CARCO continued it's strategy of rapid growth
through acquisition by acquiring the operating assets of the
insurance inspection services division of
AutoInfo, Inc., it's
largest competitor. This acquisition enabled the company to
operate more efficiently and to provide enhanced service to the
insurance community, including a combined
national site network
of approximately 7,000
locations.
Today, through it's record of
quality performance, a fully computerized
proactive inspection
program, and the most extensive site network available to serve
the motoring public, CARCO maintains a
dominant market
position in this industry segment.
