National Insurance Crime Bureau Analysis Shows First Half 2009 Suspicious Claims...

National Insurance Crime Bureau Analysis Shows First Half 2009 Suspicious
Claims Ahead of 2008

Suspicious car fires up 20 percent, suspicious auto glass claims up 76 percent
and product liability up 90 percent

DES PLAINES, Ill., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A review of suspicious
insurance claims referred to the National Insurance Crime Bureau during the
first half of 2009 shows increases in nearly all referral categories compared
with the first half of 2008.

A total of 41,619 "questionable claims" were referred to NICB in the first
half of 2009 compared with 36,743 received during the same period in 2008.
These are claims that NICB member insurance companies refer to NICB for closer
review and investigation based on one or more indicators of fraud. The full
report is available at www.nicb.org.

As in the previous report released last April, this review reveals an increase
in questionable claims submitted to NICB member insurance companies under
property, casualty, commercial, vehicle and miscellaneous referral reasons.

"While there has been modest improvement within a few categories of referrals,
the overall number of questionable claims for the first half of 2009 is 13
percent higher than it was at this time last year," said Joe Wehrle, NICB
President and Chief Executive Officer.

Wehrle added, "We will aggressively investigate fraudulent claims to protect
our member companies and their policyholders. But all Americans should know
-- whether or not they are insured by one of our 1000-plus member companies --
they benefit from our efforts as our success over fraud helps keep insurance
costs affordable."

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 National Insurance Crime Bureau, +1-916-979-7025,
fscafidi@nicb.org