NAIC Fraud Line Irks P-C Insurers

A new fraud reporting hotline set up by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has property-casualty insurance industry representatives concerned about possible duplicative efforts.

The hotline has been in its preliminary stages for the past two months, with any information reported directly to the states and then to an NAIC database.

But starting July the tips will be reported directly to the NAIC, which will then direct the information to the appropriate state department and also maintain the data in its own database.

Don Cleasby, assistant general counsel for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), said the concern of his member companies is that it duplicates an existing reporting program run under the aegis of the Insurance Services Office and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

"With the NAIC setting up an independent database are we going to have to be doing this twice?" he asked.

Such duplication could increase costs as well as lead to errors, Mr. Cleasby said.

NAIC responded that its technical experts note the NICB provides a fraud reporting mechanism for their members who are exclusively property and casualty companies, while the NAIC system will report for all lines.

As for the concerns about confidentiality, the NAIC said that "unlike the NICB database, the NAIC fraud database is not for sale, nor is it for use in the underwriting or claims adjustment of thousands of insurers."

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NAIC Fraud Line Irks P-C Insurers

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