I hope readers understand that this editorial could very wellget me banished from my favorite sushi restaurant. Is there a worsethought to be had?

You see, my regular sushi stop is located near the Toyota MotorEngineering and Manufacturing North America plant — a mere blockfrom National Underwriter's headquarters — and is frequented bymany of the company's brass. But really! Toyota's advertising hasbecome a sore subject for insurers. Specifically, there are a fewnow-infamous commercials that have gotten a lot of negative press —and a lot of negative reaction from the insurance industry. Andwell it should.

With incidents of fraud more rampant than ever, the last thingthe industry needs right now is for one of the major carmanufacturers, especially one with such a stellar reputation for asuperior product and savvy marketing, to stoop to this.

A woman cutting down a huge tree limb to destroy her Corolla andexpecting the insurance company to handle it as a total loss? Agentleman engaging his family to help destroy their Highlander?What were they thinking?

Here's an excerpt from a letter from a member of our EditorialAdvisory Board, Dave Rioux of Erie Insurance, who also is thecurrent president of the International Association of SpecialInvestigation Units:

Mr. Shige Hayakawa

President, Toyota North America

Recently, Toyota's “Something strange happens to people atthis time of year” television advertising campaign has drawnattention from various news media.

As president of the International Association of SpecialInvestigation Units (IASIU), board member of the Coalition AgainstInsurance Fraud (CAIF), and vice president and manager of CorporateSecurity and Investigative Services for Erie Insurance, I stronglyagree with the concerns that a number of my industry colleaguesalready have voiced.

While Toyota surely does not intend to encourage deliberatedestruction of vehicles — with the unspoken implication thatinsurance will pay for a new one — this new series of commercialsmay inadvertently do so.

According to research, nearly 25 percent of Americans say it'sokay to defraud insurers. Fraud is a costly problem that results inhigher premiums. In fact, some industry experts estimate that about10 percent of your auto insurance premium pays for the cost offraud.

To avoid unintentionally bolstering the misconception that fraudis acceptable, we urge you to abandon this campaign.

Considering all the efforts IASIU, CAIF, and the insuranceindustry at large, we would all hope that Toyota will pull thiscampaign, although the damage is likely already done among insuredswho took the idea and ran with it.

This situation could cause a serious breach in the advancementof anti-fraud initiatives across the board and hamper the effortsof the industry to combat this fraud cancer.

If I hear from Toyota, I'll be sure to let you know. In themeantime, I'm sure going to miss my weekly sushi fix.