Urban-Rural Disparity Cited In Claims Behavior

A recent Insurance Research Council (IRC) study of auto injury insurance claims in the state of New York finds that claimants from the New York City metropolitan area exhibit very different claim behavior than claimants from the rest of the state.

“Recent statistics for the state of New York have provided some encouraging news from that troubled system, but this statewide data masks some widely divergent trends between claimants from the New York City area and claimants from the rest of the state,” said Elizabeth A. Sprinkel, senior vice president at IRC. “Such discrepancies may impede continuing improvement in the state's auto insurance system.”

Despite the fact that New York City area claimants are not more seriously injured than other claimants, they receive significantly more medical treatment and report much higher economic losses, pushing up costs in the auto injury system.

Moreover, the disparity between upstate and downstate claimants widened considerably from 1992 to 2002.

In 2002, economic losses reported under the personal injury protection (PIP) coverage averaged $11,508 per claimant in the New York City area–nearly three times the $3,869 average seen in the rest of the state. Reported economic losses include medical expenses, lost wages and other expenses associated with the injury.

In contrast, in 1992, reported economic losses were much more similar–$5,140 among New York City area claimants, compared with $4,677 among claimants in the rest of the state.