A report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) shows that staged accident questionable claims increased 46 percent from 2007 through 2009.

Additionally, the ratio of staged accident questionable claims to overall bodily injury (BI) and personal injury protection (PIP) claims has increased over this period, even though the total number of BI and PIP claims has declined.

Florida, New York, California, Texas, and Illinois were the top five states that generated the most staged accident questionable claims. Florida easily earned the top spot with more than 3,000 staged accident questionable claims, almost double the numbers of both New York and California.

Unsurprisingly, the top five cities that had the most staged accident questionable claims all came from these five states, including three in Florida alone. They included New York City, Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and Houston.

According to the NICB, staged accidents are criminal events that target innocent drivers with increasingly bold schemes aimed at defrauding insurance companies out of millions of dollars. They said that unless someone becomes suspicious, many of these staged accidents go undetected. The NICB has created a series of videos demonstrating some of the most common types of staged accidents. They can be viewed, along with the complete staged accident questionable claims report, at www.nicb.org.

Making Reporting Easier

In order to help fight fraud like staged accidents, the Insurance Services Office (ISO), the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) have streamlined the process of reporting suspicions in a filed insurance claim.

Companies can now file a single report directly to multiple state insurance departments and the NICB/ISO. Reports filed with the NICB/ISO Fraud Bureau Reporting Program will now also be filed with the NAIC Online Fraud Reporting System (OFRS), eliminating duplicate filing in most states.

Most state insurance regulators mandate that insurance companies directly report suspected fraudulent or suspicious activities in a filed insurance claim. In April, 47 states began accepting reports either through the NAIC OFRS or via a direct system connection from NICB/ISO. ISO ClaimSearch provides the reporting system used by NICB and its member companies.

The NICB and ISO expect to provide the NAIC OFRS with approximately 80,000 reports of suspected fraud per year.

Special Reports /

NICB: Questionable Claims Up 46 Percent

Related Stories

Recommended For You