The National Insurance Crime Bureau is a not-for-profit organization that partners with insurers and law enforcement agencies to aid in the identification, detection, and prosecution of insurance criminals. Claims sat down with the organization's chairman, Mark Russell, to find out how adjusters can better utilize this resource.
You partner with more than 1,000 property/casualty insurance carriers. Why is this sharing amongst competing companies important?
Information sharing between companies, law enforcement, regulators, and consumers is the only way to make any ground against insurance fraud and vehicle theft. By now, we have all heard that insurance fraud is a huge problem that costs consumers and businesses in excess of $80 billion. In fact, it's the second leading white-collar crime; only tax evasion is larger. This type of fraud has even led to the deaths of innocent people in arson and staged auto accidents, so we must work together to put an end to the practice.
How can adjusters use the information you provide?
The NICB provides investigative assistance to companies' special investigative units (SIUs) and claim representatives. It also provides stolen vehicle recovery data to claim representatives to assist them in the recovery process. We provide training to claim representatives in conjunction with the National Insurance Crime Training Academy and to companies' special investigators through its Special Investigators Academy. Claim adjusters are a critical link in addressing and preventing insurance fraud.
What trends in fraud have you noticed in recent years?
We've seen a marked increase in medical and injury fraud, including staged auto accident rings and vehicle chopping and cloning. Vehicle chopping is when cars are stolen, stripped, and ravished for their parts. Vehicle cloning is a crime in which stolen vehicles receive the identity of non-stolen, legally owned vehicles of similar make and model. Through the use of counterfeit labels, plates, stickers and titles, criminals disguise the true identity of the stolen vehicle to make it appear as if it is a legitimate, legally owned vehicle.
In what areas are there greater opportunities for adjusters to effectively combat fraud?
The greatest opportunities are in the auto injury lines (bodily injury and PIP claims) and workers' compensation claims. Also, auto theft remains a stubborn problem for consumers and insurance companies. This is largely due to the loss severity caused by exaggerated or non-existent injuries, including those attributed to staged accidents.
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