NU Online News Service, Aug. 14, 1:26 p.m.EDT

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners released anew mobile application to help guide policyholders on whatinformation they should disclose after an auto accident.

The NAIC says auto accidents happen every minute of each day.However, according to a July 2012 survey from the NAIC, many Americans do not know whatsteps to take, and do not know what basic information they shouldshare—or not share—after an accident.

The new WreckCheck mobileapplication from the NAIC aims to help drivers eliminate the riskof giving away too much personal information after an accident.

A recent NAIC survey revealed consumers were unsure about autoaccident best practices, such as when to call the police or whatpersonal information to exchange with the other driver after anaccident.

The most common misperceptions and associated risks were:

• Nearly 40 percent of respondents felt they should share theirdriver's licenses; one in six would allow the other driver tophotograph their licenses as a convenient way to exchangeinformation. The risk, however, is that many retailers acceptdriver's license information as a common way to verify identityover the phone.
• Twenty-five percent of consumers would share their homeaddresses. Unfortunately, sharing this information gives identitythieves the physical location of one's mail or garbage, which oftenis where they look for personal or financial information abouttheir victims.
• Almost 30 percent of drivers think they are required to sharetheir personal phone numbers. In fact, sharing personal phonenumbers is not necessary.
• Close to 20 percent of people believe the only reason to callthe police after an accident is if someone is injured. However,filing a police report can help facilitate the insurance-claimsprocess.

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in theUnited States. The Federal Trade Commission estimates nearly 9 million consumershave their identities stolen each year, disrupting financesand damaging credit histories and reputations.

"The last thing you're probably thinking about following a caraccident is protecting your privacy," says NAIC President andFlorida Insurance Commissioner Kevin M. McCarty. "Understandingwhat information to share, and with whom, will help keep you safeafter an accident and decrease some of the challenges of filing aclaim later on. That's also why the NAIC created WreckCheck. Theapp will take the guesswork out of what information to getfollowing a car accident."