One-fourth of U.S. adults say inflating insurance claims is OK. (Property/Casualty: Loss/Risk Management Notes).About one in four adults in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. say that exaggerating ex·ag·ger·ate v. ex·ag·ger·at·ed, ex·ag·ger·at·ing, ex·ag·ger·ates v.tr. 1. To represent as greater than is actually the case; overstate: the value of claims to insurance companies is acceptable, and more than one in 10 say they approve of submitting insurance claims for items that were not lost or damaged or treatments that were not provided, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a survey by Accenture (Accenture, Chicago, IL, www.accenture.com) The world's largest management and technology consulting firm, which was spun off of Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1989 as a separate entity known as Andersen Consulting. . About 49% of those surveyed said that people commit insurance fraud because they can get away with it. "I was most surprised with the results that half of the people thought they could get away with it;' said Michael A. Lucarini, a partner in Accenture's insurance practice. "Insurers need to take away that people believe they can get away with insurance fraud." The survey, based on a random sample of more than 1,000 adults, also found that two-thirds of people were more likely to commit insurance fraud during an economic downturn Downturn The transition point between a rising, expanding economy to a falling, contracting one. downturn A decline in security prices or economic activity following a period of rising or stable prices or activity. . About 40% said they were unlikely to report someone who has committed fraud, while 83% said insurance companies are capable of identifying or preventing fraud-related property and casualty insurance claims. Lucarini said insurers can improve their bottom lines if they can detect fraud. He suggested adopting improved technology, which would do such things as trigger a report to a company's fraud unit if the same individual popped up on more than one accident report. The Insurance Services Office Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) is a provider of data, underwriting, risk management and legal/regulatory services to property-casualty insurers and other clients. Headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, the organization serves clients with offices throughout the United Inc. estimates the cost of fraud to the US. property/casualty insurance industry is about $24 billion, or about 10% of total claims payments. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion