Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson assembled a panel to investigate ways to reduce auto insurance fraud in Michigan. The panel determined that the State should create a special authority devoted to targeting auto insurance fraud. This panel also recommended that the state insurance department should have expanded powers to penalize people operating as insurance agents without a license.
Secretary of State Johnson told reporters that in July 2013, 16.1 percent of roughly 3,500 paper certificates presented at secretary of state offices were invalid or phony. A recent snapshot showed 7.6 percent of nearly 2,400 certificates were invalid, she said. “Already what we’ve done and the training and working with law enforcement has made a difference,” Johnson said.