Federal Crop Insurance Fraud

Federal crop insurance programs were created in the 1930s to help farmers survive the drought and financial hardships of the Great Depression. However, in the 1990s, the program became privatized, meaning private insurers began to handle the claims. Over time, some farmers began to attempt to defraud the government by filing false claims against their crop insurance, such as claiming to have lost a crop due to drought or disease when they actually did not plant a crop in the first place.

Reporting Crop Insurance Fraud

As of 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had only 100 employees in its Risk Management Agency whose job it was to monitor 2 million insurance policies across the nation. For this reason, federal crop insurance fraud goes largely unreported. Federal agencies often rely on the crop insurance companies themselves to report fraudulent activity.

Some of the insurance companies take aggressive action against anyone who attempts to defraud the system, but others show little interest in taking actions to police themselves. For this reason, the federal government often relies on individual whistleblowers to help them discover fraudulent activities.

Contact Us

If you suspect fraud within the crop insurance program, you have the right to report this fraud and file a suit on behalf of the federal government. In exchange, you may be eligible to receive a portion of the damages from the case. To learn more about your rights and protections as a whistleblower against fraudulent activity, contact the Qui Tam attorneys of Tycko & Zavareei, LLP by calling 202-973-0900.