Sandy-Damaged Vehicles Hit 230,000 Mark

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Nov 26, 2012, 03:34 ET

New York and New Jersey Account for 190,000

DES PLAINES, Ill., Nov. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today announced revised estimates for the number of vehicles damaged as a result of Sandy as provided by the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics.

The current estimate of vehicles damaged as a result of Sandy hit the 230,000 mark as claims processed by insurance companies have been reviewed and analyzed. Not surprisingly, New York had the most vehicles affected by the storm with 130,000 while New Jersey generated 60,000 claims.

The remaining 40,000 were reported from Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

It is important to note that these are preliminary figures and may change as additional claims are received and processed. Moreover, there is no determination as to the extent of damage to these vehicles. They could have sustained minor paint scratches from flying debris, or have been under water for days and rendered total losses.

The important message to used vehicle consumers is to be aware that severely damaged vehicles may appear advertised for sale without any indication that they were at all affected by Sandy. As always, buyers should be careful when considering a used vehicle purchase in the weeks and months following a disaster such as Sandy.

Consumers can download useful checklists and learn more about flood and salvage vehicle scams and post-disaster contractor repair schemes by visiting the NICB website here. Also, NICB's VINCheck allows free consumer access to the vehicle salvage records of participating NICB member insurance companies who collectively provide 88 percent of the auto insurance in force today.

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. Or, iPhone or iPad users can download the NICB Fraud Tips app to make it easy to quickly send a tip and get a response.

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 $319 billion in insurance premiums in 2010, or approximately 80 percent of the nation's property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 94 percent ($152 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org.

SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau