Questionable Claims Up 46 Percent

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.