A national statistical agent company said it is asking property-casualty insurers to take part in a study of frequency and severity of Internet-related personal injury claims.

The study is sponsored by the Wheaton, Ill.-based American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS), an advisory organization and statistical agent that develops policy forms and rating information for property-casualty insurers throughout the U.S.

AAIS said participation is open to all insurers, whether they are AAIS members or not, and carriers that provide personal injury claims data for the study will receive a report with the aggregate results, including actuarial analysis.

The firm explained that the study seeks to determine how the frequency and severity of personal injury claims have been affected by growing use of e-mail, blogs, networking sites and other forms of electronic communication, as well as by the growing incidence of “cyberbullying” and other offensive behaviors such as libel, slander and privacy violation.

Because of advances in electronic communications, harmful comments can now be transmitted instantaneously to worldwide audiences. Some multimillion-dollar judgments have been reported for offenses involving transmissions over the Internet, AAIS said.

“As an industry, we know there is more exposure for personal injury today than in years past,” said a statement from Greg Jaynes, AAIS director of actuarial services. “We would like to determine how much.”

He added that the study of personal injury claims experience “is part of our larger ongoing efforts to monitor emerging exposures that have an impact on P-C coverage.”

Information on study participation can be obtained by contacting Mr. Jaynes at gregj@AAISonline.com, or by calling 800-564-AAIS.

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