A.M.BestTV: National Insurance Crime Bureau Fights With Computers and Investigators

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - FEBRUARY 25, 2015 02:12 PM (EST)
This ^A.M.BestTV episode examines how a small army of former police investigators at the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) help member companies fight fraud by weeding through thousands of suspicious claims every year.

Founded in 1912, the NICB states that about 10% of every insurance claim has an element of fraud included in it.

"More than $30 billion a year is spent by property/casualty companies and their customers on insurance fraud," said Dave Phillips, a spokesman for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. "This cost roughly adds up to about $200-$300 per annual increase in premiums, with some estimates being as high as $950 per year."

Joseph Wehrle, president and chief executive officer at NICB, said that his company "is mainly focused on three priorities: medical in the property/casualty companies, commercial, i.e., cargo and heavy equipment thefts as well as workers' compensation and vehicular frauds."

Claims fraud build-up and inflation of legitimate claims added up to $7.7 billion in excess payments of auto injury claims in 2012, according to estimates by the Insurance Research Council, which is about 17% of the total auto injury claims paid that year.

Also appearing in this episode is:

• Richie Muller, supervisory special agent, major medical fraud task force, New York at NICB.

Click here to view the entire video program: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=fraud215.

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^A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.