NICB Named to New Fraud Prevention Partnership

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Jul 26, 2012, 02:00 ET

CEO Joe Wehrle to Represent Property/Casualty Insurers

DES PLAINES, Ill., July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has been named to the Executive Board of the newly formed Fraud Prevention Partnership, which was unveiled today in Washington, D.C.

"For the past two years, we have been working with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General and others in Washington to establish an information and data sharing effort aimed at detecting and preventing insurance fraud at the public and private sector levels," said NICB President and CEO Joe Wehrle.

"We are pleased to be asked to serve on the Council's Executive Board to represent our 1,100 member companies who have a vital interest in preventing medical-related fraud. Every year, property and casualty companies pay out over $45 billion for medical coverage for their customers and other injured parties primarily related to automobile and workers' compensation insurance policies. Unfortunately, there are medical providers, clinics and others who defraud the system, just as they do Medicare, Medicaid and the private health insurance industry.

"We know from our experience in investigating fraud in the property and casualty industry that there is a significant amount of crossover. The fraudsters don't discriminate and they will steal from anyone. By sharing data and investigations among all insurers, we will be able to make a much more significant impact in the fight against these organized criminal rings."

CEO Joe Wehrle will represent NICB on the Executive Committee.

About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: Headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,100 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote over $339 billion in insurance premiums in 2011, or approximately 80 percent of the nation's property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 94 percent ($156 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org.

SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau