NU Online News Service, June 28, 2:05 p.m. EDT

The good news is a fraud task force set up by the NationalInsurance Crime Bureau (NICB) in South Florida in 2002 seems tohave had an effect on automobile insurance fraud.

The bad news is criminals appear to have moved north within thestate.

A 290 percent increase in questionable claims related to stagedauto accidents was recorded in the Tampa, Fla., area from 2008 to2009, according to a new report from the NICB.

Criminals are "fleeing the heat" in South Florida due to effortsof the NICB and its members, said Joe Wehrle, NICB president andchief executive officer.

"That's one of the reasons [criminals] are moving up the stateto the Tampa and Orlando areas," said Mr. Wehrle, who added thatthe NICB will be setting up a task force in Tampa.

Questionable claims related to suspected staged accidentsreported to the NICB from member companies increased 58 percentfrom Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2009. The number of questionableclaims for all fraud types in Florida increased 15 percent,according to the NICB.

Criminals are taking advantage of Florida's no-fault insurancelaws, the NICB said. Previous studies showed Florida had thehighest rates of fraud in bodily injury and personal injuryprotection (PIP) among a dozen states with no-fault laws, the NICBsaid.

From 2008 through 2009 questionable claims in Florida for bodilyinjury increased 73 percent and PIP rose 52 percent.

The NICB also said while the economy could not directly be tiedto the rise in staged accidents, it may be easier to find "morewilling participants looking for a way to make some quickcash."