NICB Reports 9 Percent Rise in California Suspicious Claims Since 2008

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Apr 14, 2011, 11:00 ET

Questionable Vehicle Thefts and Faked/Exaggerated Injuries Lead Increase

DES PLAINES, Ill., April 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today released its questionable claims (QC) referral reason analysis for California. The report examines QCs originating in California and referred to NICB from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2010.

In 2008, a total of 15,609 California QCs were referred to NICB from its member insurance companies compared with 16,274 in 2009 and 17,082 in 2010. That represents a 9 percent increase in 2010 from 2008 numbers. 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: https://www.nicb.org/File%20Library/Public%20Affairs/CA-QCs08-10.pdf.

From 2008-2010, California spawned 20 percent of all of the QCs generated in the United States. Within California the top five cities posting the most QCs were Los Angeles (5,461), San Francisco (1,736), San Diego (1,627), Sacramento (1,361) and San Jose (1,301).

With respect to referral reasons, most were for "questionable vehicle theft" followed by "faked/exaggerated injury." Under policy type, "personal automobile" was the single most cited policy generating 9,144 QCs in 2010—54 percent of all California QCs in 2010.

"Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime," said Joe Wehrle, NICB president and CEO. "It impacts anyone who buys insurance through higher premiums. Help us help you by reporting insurance crimes to authorities."

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