Did You
Know?
Insurance fraud is the second
largest economic crime in the U.S. after tax evasion, according to the
National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).
Insurance
fraud, the white collars second most costly offense, costs the American
public approximately 96.2 billion dollars per year in increased
premiums
alone.
About 11-30
cents — or more — of every claim dollar is lost to "soft" fraud
(smalltime cheating by normally honest people), nearly half of
property-casualty insurance companies say. Hardcore scams steal only a
small fraction of that money. Insurance
Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002).
Nearly one of
four Americans say it’s ok to defraud insurers, says a survey by the
consulting firm Accenture Ltd. Some 8 percent say it’s “quite
acceptable” to bilk insurers, while 16 percent say it’s “somewhat
acceptable.” About one in 10 people agree it’s ok to submit claims for
items that aren’t lost or damaged, or for personal injuries that didn’t
occur. Two of five people are “not very likely” or “not likely at all”
to report someone who ripped of an insurer. Click here
for the complete study. Accenture Ltd. (2003)
More than two of five property-casualty
insurers have increased spending to fight fraud over the last three
years. More than four of five insurers have formal anti-fraud programs.
Insurance
Research Council-Insurance Services Office (2002).
Only one of four insurers thoroughly
investigate cheating on insurance applications. Even fewer insurers
investigate insiders such as employees and agents who commit premium
fraud. Research Council-Insurance Services Office
(2002).
A
study in 2001 by Conning and Co. estimated that insurance fraud
increases the average American household costs by over $5000.00/year
when
the rise in premiums, goods and services are taken into consideration.
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