National Insurance Crime Bureau Data Shows Increase in Fraudulent Claims Linked to...

National Insurance Crime Bureau Data Shows Increase in Fraudulent Claims
Linked to Poor Economy

Suspicious car fires up 27 percent, slip and falls up 77 percent and hail
damage claims soar 407 percent

DES PLAINES, Ill., April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Is the poor economy
driving people to commit insurance fraud? While there has been considerable
speculation within the insurance industry, law enforcement and the news media
that money woes have forced some people to break the law in order to collect
on insurance policies, to date, there has been no solid statistical evidence
to back up that speculation.

But a new report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) clearly shows
an increase in the number of questionable claims (QCs) related to possible
cases of insurance fraud during the past year as the economy continued its
downward spiral. An analysis of QCs submitted by the more than 1,000 NICB
members companies in the first quarter of 2009, versus the first quarter of
2008, shows a definite increase in claims related to what is termed
"opportunistic fraud."

Examples of opportunistic fraud include:

A hail storm causes limited damage to a section of shingles on a house, but
the homeowner, seeing the opportunity to get an entirely new roof from his
insurance company, deliberately causes more extensive damage. The NICB report
shows that QCs for hail damage increased 407 percent in 2009 compared with
2008.

A car owner who is having trouble making payments on a recently purchased
vehicle decides to torch the car (suspicious fire/arson), pays someone to take
it, or he drives it to a remote area and abandons it (owner give-up). The car
is then reported vandalized or stolen. The insurance company writes a check to
the car owner, who uses that money to pay off some of or the entire
outstanding loan. Claims related to suspicious vehicle fires/arsons were up 27
percent in 2009 compared to 2008 and owner give-ups increased 24 percent.

Slip-and-fall accidents are another example of opportunistic fraud and
insurers submitted 60 percent more QCs related to slip-and-falls under
casualty policies and 77 percent more under commercial policies. Suspected
fraudulent claims related to workers' compensation insurance were up 71
percent.

A previous report by NICB in October 2008 looked at owner give-ups from 2004
through March 2008, and showed a correlation between an increase in the number
of give-ups and the rising cost of gasoline during that period. A large
number of the give-ups involved less fuel efficient large sport utility
vehicles and pickup trucks.

The NICB report covers only questionable claims submitted by member insurance
companies. These claims have already been reviewed by the companies and
classified as possibly fraudulent. The full report is available online at
www.nicb.org.

"Desperate times sometimes cause people to take desperate measures," said Joe
Wehrle, NICB's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Unfortunately,
committing insurance fraud is not the solution to anyone's problems - it only
leads to more problems if you're caught.

"Some people think it is okay to cheat an insurance company, but the fact is,
they are breaking the law, risking jail time, and causing everyone else to pay
more for their insurance coverage."

"The NICB's report is in line with much of the data and anecdotal information
we've gathered from our insurer members and other sources," said Dennis Jay,
Executive Director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud
(www.insurancefraud.org). "The poor economy may be driving normally good
people to do bad things. Hardcore insurance criminals also have more
opportunity to entice normally honest people into their fraudulent schemes."

About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: headquartered in Des Plaines, IL,
the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively
dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle
theft through information analysis, investigations, training, legislative
advocacy and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,000
property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations.

Anyone with information concerning vehicle theft and insurance fraud can
report it anonymously by calling toll-free 1-800-TEL-NICB (1-800-835-6422) or
by visiting our web site at www.nicb.org.

SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau

Frank Scafidi of NICB, +1-847-544-7041, fscafidi@nicb.org