The NICB "partners with insurers and law enforcement agencies tofacilitate the identification, detection and prosecution ofinsurance criminals," according to its web site. The organizationcollects information on and tracks suspicious insurance claims inthe property, casualty, commercial, workers' compensation, andvehicle arenas; referrals with no discernible category are placedin a miscellaneous column. For the first half of 2009, the NICBdata showed increases in nearly all referral categories comparedwith the first half of 2008.

In its report, the group noted that it received 41,619questionable claims in the first half of 2009, compared with 36,743during the same period in 2008. These are claims that NICB memberinsurance companies refer to NICB for closer review andinvestigation based on one or more indicators of fraud. The fullreport is available at www.nicb.org.

"While there has been modest improvement within a few categoriesof referrals, the overall number of questionable claims for thefirst half of 2009 is 13 percent higher than it was at this timelast year," NICB President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Wehrlesaid in a prepared release.