Claims Magazine-September 2004

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  • The Art of Restoring Water Damage

    Peter P. Duncanson

    Professional water-damage restoration is a complicated business, requiring a careful, scientific approach with frequent monitoring of relative humidity, temperature, and moisture readings of contents

  • Industry Responds to Charley

    Staff Writer

    Although damage from August's Hurricane Charley was still being assessed when this issue of Claims went to press, preliminary estimates of insured losses were just over $7 billion, making it the

  • Getting Away With Fraud

    Staff Writer

    "The findings of this year's survey indicate that the insurance industry still is increasingly vulnerable to fraud," said Michael A. Lucarini, a partner in Accentor's Insurance practice. "Insurance

  • Institute Authors Silica White Paper

    Staff Writer

    The Insurance Information Institute recently completed a white paper on the health risks associated with silicosis and the rising number of silica-related claims being filed. As Congress continues to

  • National Safety Groups Form Partnership Links

    Staff Writer

    Underwriters Laboratories and the Institute for Business & Home Safety have joined forces to promote public awareness about residential and commercial property safety issues. The groups intend to

  • CAIF Pushes State Anti-Fraud Legislation

    Staff Writer

    More states urgently need to pass targeted laws to uncover and disband widespread staged-accident rings, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud recently told the National Conference of Insurance

  • USGS Assess Coastal Erosion

    Staff Writer

    In states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, vast areas of coastal land have been destroyed since the mid-1800s as a result of natural processes and human activities, according to

  • NAIC Proposes Criminal Background Check Model Act

    Staff Writer

    The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has drafted a model act that is designed to provide states with the ability to collect fingerprints of insurance employees and submit the

  • Ten Most Costly Hurricanes In the United States

    Staff Writer

    In early August, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a revised forecast for the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, indicating a 45 percent probability of above-normal activity.

  • Deadly September

    Staff Writer

    Although the official end of hurricane season is in sight, September is, historically, the deadliest and most expensive month for tropical storms. Eight of the 10 costliest hurricanes to strike the

  • Famous Fraud Expert Fronts NAIC Campaign

    Staff Writer

    The con-artist and security expert who became a household name when his story was made into the movie, Catch Me If You Can, has signed on as the spokesman for the National Association of Insurance

  • Pan Am Insurers Sue Lockerbie Bombing Convict

    Staff Writer

    Insurers for former airline Pan Am have filed suit in Edinburgh, Scotland, against a Libyan man who was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people aboard a Pan Am jet in 1988,

  • Safeco Launches National Boat Claim Center

    Staff Writer

    Last month, with boating season in full swing, Safeco established a new specialized claim unit dedicated to handling boaters' insurance claims. The National Boat Unit, located in Spokane, Wash., is

  • Sullivan Honored as Professional of the Year

    Staff Writer

    The Editorial Advisory Board of Claims has named Christine A. Sullivan, assistant vice president of Allstate Insurance, Professional of the Year. Christine will receive the Professional of the Year

  • PLRB Revisited

    Hugh O. Strawn

    A casual observer might never have noticed that the Property Loss Research Bureau has just gone through a dramatic change. In January 2004, the PLRB was spun off by the Alliance of American Insurers,

  • Insurers Sue Medical Clinics

    Staff Writer

    Allstate Insurance Co., Country Insurance & Financial Services (formerly MSI Insurance Cos.), Encompass Insurance (through underwriting company Continental Insurance Co.), and Progressive Casualty

  • Insurer Wins PIP Waiver Case

    Staff Writer

    In the original case, Richard Nesbit, a Government Employees Insurance Co. policyholder injured in a 2003 auto mobile accident, attempted to recover PIP benefits. The insurer rejected the claim

  • Wireless Technology Speeds Customer Service

    Martin J. Iverson

    In the auto physical damage arena, it takes a lot to arouse the excitement of seasoned claim appraisers and handlers. After Hartford introduced its new Claim Expediter wireless mobile system,

  • Insurance Crime Legislation: A Call to Action

    Reynold E. Becker

    The readers of this magazine are well aware of the financial toll that insurance crime exacts upon insurance companies and policyholders. You also are aware of the efforts by individual insurers, the

  • It Takes One to Know One

    Richard W. Slomiany

    The original residents, Native Americans of the Iroquois Confederacy, called it Allatoona, the Cherokee word meaning, "the high lands of great worth." In the mid-1800s, the Pennsylvania Railroad

  • Employee Theft and Fraud: Accelerate Recovery

    Staff Writer

    Human nature being what it is, incidents of serious employee theft or fraud will occur at some point in any large organization. Like other crises and problems, internal theft and fraud are as

  • Grounds for Denying Claims

    Barry Zalma

    Every fraud investigator or lawyer advising an insurer on a potentially fraudulent claim is faced, at the end of an investigation, with the need to determine whether there is sufficient grounds to

  • Mixing Oil and Water

    Ken Brownlee

    Over the last three months, this columnist has addressed threats to the infrastructure from terrorism and other hazards, as well as the fact that our nation, and its insurance industry, is extremely

  • BI Can Be Confusing

    Bruce Hillman, JD

    This is almost laughable, it is so obvious: "Business income can be confusing, to say the least." One of the FC&S expert analysts wrote this in August's FC&S Dec Page, which lets its users know what

  • National Defense Counsel -- Edifice Complex?

    Staff Writer

    Dream Job was an ESPN reality show in which young slackers and sports nuts vied to become a real-life Sports Center newscaster. The winner got a one-year contract and the right to shout "Boo-yah!"

  • Independent Appraisers -- the Next Dinosaur

    Christopher Sheehy

    If you are an insurer who is using direct repair providers or third party administrators to settle automobile damage claims, please take note. Recently, I conducted a survey comparing desk audits by

  • Reputed Mobster Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

    Staff Writer

    Joseph Fratta, a reputed member of the Bonanno crime family, pleaded guilty to charges ranging from money laundering and fraud to enterprise corruption and tax evasion. At his sentencing hearing on

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