Property-casualty insurer GEICO has announced the filing of a series of civil suits against defendants accused of running an accident ring in New York that cost the company $2 million in fraudulent claims.

Seth Ingall, regional vice president of the insurer’s Woodbury, N.Y., office said that GEICO’s claims team learned that many of the so-called accidents were purposely caused to overbill the company for medical treatments not needed or were never performed.

“GEICO has a zero tolerance policy; we have our policyholder’s best interest at heart and we want to protect them and their pocket books,” Nancy Pierce, vice president of GEICO claims, added in a statement from the insurer.

GEICO said it is working with the New York State Insurance Department’s Frauds Bureau, the National Insurance Crime Bureau and law enforcement agencies to curb this type of fraud and increase public awareness of the problem.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates that fraud against property-casualty insurers adds about $250 annually to the average household’s premium. This fraud tax costs all of the insurance-paying public in the form of higher insurance premiums.

GEICO also said it supports legislative proposals in New York to combat what it calls the “growing no-fault crisis” in the state, including support for implementing medical treatment guidelines for specific auto accident-related injuries to reduce instances of over-treatment and/or unnecessary treatments as well as proposals to implement an arbitration system to eliminate trial costs for all parties while also expediting claims resolution.