Slip & fall scams continue troubling trend
Businesses make up the bulk of questionable claims, but homeowners remain a target on scammers' radar, NICB reported.
Questionable slip and fall claims rose through 2019, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), with 56% of questionable claims filed on commercial general liability policies, while 15% were on commercial liability business owners policies. Commercial multi-peril policies saw 8% of questionable slip and fall filings.
Overall, commercial business policies accounted for 79% of all questionable slip and fall cases, according to NICB data, which was compiled by analyzed 6,471 questionable cases.
A majority of the claims occurred at retail stores, in parking lots or at restaurants, NICB reported. Regionally, Los Angeles County was the county with the most questionable slip and fall claims, while New York City was the city with the most claims.
Overall, there was a 2% uptick in questionable slip and fall claims between 2017 and 2019, according to NICB, which noted these types are incidents might have seen changes during 2020 as a result of lockdown measures.
“NICB and its insurer member companies work closely together and have investigated nearly 12,000 questionable slip and fall claims since 2015,” John Selleck, vice president of operations, intelligence, and analytics at NICB, said in a release. “Insurers have a responsibility to their policyholders to make certain their premium dollar goes as far as possible. Investigations of potentially fraudulent claims by insurers and NICB means consumers will get the most from what they pay.”
Homeowners aren’t immune
Although most questionable slip and flip claims are filed against businesses, personal property policies saw a 39% increase for these types of incidents between 2017 and 2019, NICB reported.
Further, these policies accounted for 11% of all questionable slip and fall claims in 2019.
Homeowners show be mindful of common household items used by scammers such as hoses on the sidewalk, disorderly stacked items in the yard or children’s toys, NICB reported.
The bureau noted common fraud indicators include the use of props such as broken glass to inflate claims; overly enthusiastic witnesses; claimant threatens to see their attorney and is familiar with many insurance terms and procedures, and they are potentially a vacationer or not from the area.
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