Someone Is Watching the Insurance Companies
Most fraud watchdogs hunt policyholders. They look for homeowners who inflate claims. They look for contractors who pad invoices.
Almost no one watches the other side. Almost no one investigates the insurance companies themselves.
One organization does. It is called the American Policyholder Association. And if your carrier has treated you unfairly after Hurricane Isaias, you should know about them.
Born From a Flooded Home
The APA exists because of what happened to Douglas Quinn. Quinn is the executive director of the APA. In 2012, Superstorm Sandy flooded his home.
At his weakest moment, his insurance company hired an engineering firm called U.S. Forensics. That firm produced a report that an independent engineer later determined was false. Based on that report, his insurer denied coverage for the worst damage to his home.
Quinn was fully insured. It still took him seven years of fighting to get back home. He has called the experience one of the most traumatizing betrayals of his life.
His story was not unique. It was a pattern. And that pattern became a national scandal.
The Sandy Engineering Fraud Scandal
After Sandy, insurance companies hired engineering firms to inspect flood-damaged homes. In many cases, the engineers on site found legitimate storm damage. Then the reports went back to the firm for a process called peer review.
Peer review became a rewrite machine. One engineer later reported that more than 90 percent of his causation reports were changed during peer review to say there was no storm damage. Claims were denied. Homeowners were left with nothing.
The scale was staggering. Quinn testified before the U.S. Senate that nearly half a billion dollars was wrongfully denied to policyholders. CBS News, 60 Minutes, and PBS Frontline all covered the scandal. A claims executive from one of the insurers took the Fifth Amendment when asked in federal court whether his company participated in defrauding policyholders.
In February 2015, law enforcement raided the offices of HiRise Engineering in Uniondale, New York. Officers carried out boxes of Sandy claim files. An executive was arrested on charges including insurance fraud. Insurance defense law firms and the largest insurer in the National Flood Insurance Program were fined more than $1 million for the coverup.
Thousands of families who had paid their premiums faithfully lost their homes. For many, Quinn said, it was the end of the American dream.
What the APA Does Now
The APA is a nonprofit watchdog. Its mission is to monitor, identify, and report fraud committed by insurance companies against property owners. It does not chase policyholder fraud. It chases carrier fraud.
That distinction matters. Every other fraud organization in the industry focuses on policyholders and contractors. The APA is the only one that concentrates on crimes committed by the insurance side.
The APA runs a four-part strategy. First, it builds relationships with elected officials, attorneys general, and licensing boards before disaster strikes. Second, it collects evidence of specific fraud cases from members. Third, it pushes for criminal prosecution and license revocation against the offenders. Fourth, it works with national media to make the fraud public.
The APA also operates a fraud reporting system. If your insurer or the adjuster, engineer, or attorney they hired committed fraud against you, you can report it. Policyholders can join the APA for free and file a report through their fraud report form.
The APA also runs a portal for collecting engineer reports. It uses that data to identify patterns of altered or fraudulent reports across carriers and firms.
Why This Matters After Isaias
Hurricane Isaias hit the Panhandle on October 9, 2026. Thousands of claims are now moving through the system. Every one of those claims involves an adjuster, and many will involve engineers.
The Sandy scandal proved that fraud by carrier-hired professionals is real. It proved that altered engineering reports can deny honest claims on a massive scale. It proved that without a watchdog, no one catches it.
The APA exists so that what happened after Sandy does not happen quietly again. If an engineer alters a report on your Isaias claim, there is now an organization built specifically to catch it.
How to Use the APA
- If you suspect fraud by your carrier or their hired professionals, report it to the APA. Membership is free for policyholders.
- Learn more about their mission at apassociation.org.
- You can also report to the Florida Attorney General at MyFloridaLegal.com or call 1-866-9NO-SCAM.
- Keep your own records. Photograph everything. Save every report the carrier sends you. If an engineering report looks wrong, get an independent opinion.
PAG Stands With the APA
The Policyholder Advocacy Group endorses the American Policyholder Association. Their logo is in our footer. Their mission matches ours.
A public adjuster represents you, the policyholder. The insurance company’s adjuster represents the insurance company. The APA exists to hold the carrier side accountable when it crosses the line from bad faith into fraud.
If Isaias damaged your home and the carrier is not treating you fairly, get a free claim review. Call 800.511.2240. And remember, 10% of nothing is nothing.