The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released itsthird-quarter questionable claims (QC) referral reason analysis for2010. The report reviewed six categories of referrals related toproperty, casualty, workers' comp, commercial, auto, andmiscellaneous.

The NICB received 70,295 QC referrals in all categories throughthe third quarter of 2010, up 12 percent from the same time period in 2009. Casualty referrals saw the most change,with a 21-percent increase in suspicious claims from 2009 to 2010.Referral reasons within that category ranged from staged accidentto exaggerated injury. Excessive treatment topped the list, with5,177 total referrals from the first to the third quarter of thisyear.

Questionable claim referrals in the property category saw anincrease of 15 percent from the previous year, with a notablepercent change in hail damage referrals. The analysis reported 487 hail damagereferrals in 2009, and 897 referrals in 2010, or an 84-percentchange between years.

Another significant increase in questionable claims was observedin the auto category, specifically in the auto glass fraud subset.NICB received 333 auto glass fraud referrals in 2009, a relativelysmall figure compared to the 2,036 QC referrals submitted this yearfor a stunning 511-percent increase year over year. While othersubsets in this category decreased in 2010, the auto category stillsaw a total increase of six percent from 2009 figures.