According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), 2009 will mark the sixth consecutive year that car theft rates have gone down. Unfortunately for auto insurers (and anyone who wants to buy an inexpensive car insurance policy), it seems that criminals have moved on to bigger and better things. Auto insurance fraud incidents, or what the NICB refers to as “staged accident questionable claims,” have gone up 46% from 2007 to 2009.

“Across the country we’re seeing an alarming number of what we call staged accidents,” said Joe Wehrle, NICB president and chief executive officer. “These are crashes that are made to look like accidents, but in reality are carefully orchestrated scenarios aimed at collecting medical and vehicle damage payments from insurers. The simple truth is they are expensive and dangerous.”

So while claims have gone down as a whole (probably due to declining auto sales and fewer drivers on the road as a result of the recession), the ratio of fraudulent to legitimate claims has gone up, costing the insurance companies millions. And you know who eventually ends up paying the difference.

The top five states for questionable claims are Florida, New York, California, Texas and Illinois, while New York City leads the pack for cities, followed by Tampa, Miami, Orlando and Houston.

The NICB has also posted a series of videos showing how some common staged accidents work. A single accident could end up with a price tag reaching into six figures, but more importantly, could result in real injuries or worse for innocent drivers caught up in the scheme. As the saying goes, “Forewarned is forearmed.”

The above article is reprinted from the Risk Management Monitor - the official blog of Risk Management magazine.