NICB Reports 34 Percent Rise in Florida Suspicious Claims Since 2008

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Mar 30, 2011, 11:13 ET

Faked/Exaggerated Injuries and Staged/Caused Accidents Lead Increase

DES PLAINES, Ill., March 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today released its 2010 questionable claims (QC) referral reason analysis for Florida. The report examines QCs associated with Florida and referred to NICB during the period from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2010.

In 2008, a total of 6,508 Florida QCs were referred to NICB from its member insurance companies compared with 7,447 in 2009 and 8,724 in 2010. That represents an increase of 34 percent from 2008 compared with 2010. Questionable claims are those claims that NICB member insurance companies refer to NICB for closer review and investigation based on one or more indicators of possible fraud. A single claim may contain up to seven referral reasons.

The full report is at: http://www.nicb.org/File%20Library/Public%20Affairs/Florida-Questionable-Claims-08-10.pdf

Over this period, the top three cities for producing QCs were Tampa, Miami and Orlando. The top three counties were Miami-Dade, Hillsborough and Orange. With respect to why these claims were referred to NICB, the number one reason was "faked/exaggerated injury" followed by "staged/caused accident" and "excessive treatment."

Under policy type, "personal automobile" was the single most cited policy generating 7,570 QCs in 2010, or nearly 87 percent of all Florida QCs in 2010. Viewed another way, in the three years covered by this report, a total of 22,679 QCs came from Florida and 19,012—84 percent—were personal automobile policy types.

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), texting keyword "fraud" to TIP411 (847411) or by visiting our web site at www.nicb.org.

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 $317 billion in insurance premiums in 2010, or approximately 80 percent of the nation's property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 93 percent ($151 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org.

SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau