Rep. Jay Hoffman
Filed: 3/24/2017
 
 


 




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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1685 




2 AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1685 by replacing 
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:


4 "Section 5. The Insurance Claims Fraud Prevention Act is 
5amended by changing Section 25 as follows:




6 (740 ILCS 92/25)



7 Sec. 25. Costs and proceeds of action. 

8 (a) If the State's Attorney or Attorney General proceeds 
9with an action
brought
by a
person under Section 15, that 
10person is entitled to receive an amount that the
court 
11determines is
reasonable based upon the extent to which the 
12person contributed to the
prosecution of the action.
Subject to 
13subsection (d), the amount awarded to the person who brought 
14the
action shall not be
less than 30% of the proceeds of the 
15action or settlement of the claim, and
shall be paid from the

16proceeds.

 
 
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1 (b) If the State's Attorney or Attorney General does not 
2proceed with an
action
brought
by a person under Section 15, 
3that person shall receive an amount that the
court decides is

4reasonable for collecting the civil penalty and damages. 
5Subject to subsection
(d), the amount
shall not be less than 
640% of the proceeds of the action or settlement, and
shall be 
7paid from the
proceeds.

8 (c) If the person bringing the action as a result of a 
9violation of this Act
has paid money
to the defendant or to an 
10attorney acting on behalf of the defendant in the
underlying 
11claim, then
he or she shall be entitled to up to double the 
12amount paid to the defendant or
the attorney if that
amount is 
13greater than 50% of the proceeds.

14 (d) Where the action is one that the court finds to be 
15based primarily on
disclosures of
specific information, other 
16than information provided by the person bringing
the action 
17under
Section 15, relating to allegations or transactions in a 
18criminal, civil, or
administrative hearing, in
a legislative or 
19administrative report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or

20from the news media, the
court may award those sums that it 
21considers appropriate, but in no case more
than 10% of the

22proceeds, taking into account the significance of the 
23information and the role
of the person
bringing the action in 
24advancing the case to litigation.

25 (e) Any payment to a person under subsection (a), (b), (c), 
26or (d) shall be
made from the
proceeds. The person shall also 
 
 
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1receive an amount for reasonable expenses that
the court finds 
2to
have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorney's 
3fees and costs. All
of those expenses,
fees, and costs shall be 
4awarded against the defendant.

5 (f) If a local State's Attorney has proceeded with an 
6action under this Act,
the Treasurer
of the County where the 
7action was brought shall receive an amount for
reasonable 
8expenses that
the court finds to have been necessarily incurred 
9by the State's Attorney,
including reasonable
attorney's fees 
10and costs, plus 50% of the funds not awarded to a private

11party. Those amounts
shall be used to investigate and prosecute 
12insurance fraud, augmenting existing
budgets rather
than 
13replacing them. All remaining funds shall go to the State and 
14be deposited
in the General
Revenue Fund and, when 
15appropriated, shall be allocated to appropriate State
agencies 
16for
enhanced insurance fraud investigation, prosecution, and 
17prevention efforts.

18 (g) If the Attorney General has proceeded with an action 
19under this Act, all
funds not
awarded to a private party, shall 
20go to the State and be deposited in the
General Revenue Fund

21and, when appropriated, shall be allocated to appropriate State 
22agencies for
enhanced insurance
fraud investigation, 
23prosecution, and prevention efforts.

24 (h) If neither a local State's Attorney or the Attorney 
25General has
proceeded
with an
action under this Act, 50% of the 
26funds not awarded to a private party shall be
deposited with 
 
 
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1the
Treasurer of the County where the action was brought and 
2shall be disbursed to
the State's
Attorney of the County where 
3the action was brought. Those funds shall be used
by the 
4State's
Attorney solely to investigate, prosecute, and prevent 
5crime insurance fraud,
augmenting existing
budgets rather than 
6replacing them. All remaining funds shall go to the State
and 
7be deposited in
the General Revenue Fund and, when 
8appropriated, shall be allocated to
appropriate State
agencies 
9for enhanced crime insurance fraud investigation, prosecution, 
10and
prevention efforts.

11 (i) Whether or not the State's Attorney or Attorney General 
12proceeds with
the
action, if
the court finds that the action 
13was brought by a person who planned and
initiated the violation 
14of
this Act, that person shall be dismissed from the civil 
15action and shall not
receive any share of
the proceeds of the 
16action. The dismissal shall not prejudice the right of the

17State's Attorney or
Attorney General to continue the action on 
18behalf of the State.

19 (j) If the State's Attorney or Attorney General does not 
20proceed with the
action, and the
person bringing the action 
21conducts the action, the court may award to the
defendant its

22reasonable attorney's fees and expenses if the defendant 
23prevails in the action
and the court finds
that the claim of 
24the person bringing the action was clearly frivolous, clearly

25vexatious, or
brought primarily for purposes of harassment.

26(Source: P.A. 92-233, eff. 1-1-02.)".