A new report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, NICB, shows a big jump in questionable claims in New York. With 145 questionable claims, the city of Buffalo came in second behind New York City which had 4,016 questionable claims. New York City held57% of the statewide total of questionable claims. In all, 7,026 questionable claims were filed across the state of New York in 2010. That’s up from 6,378 in 2008.

So how does an insurance claim become “questionable?” Authorities say there are seven reasons, but most are because they were “faked/exaggerated injury”. Other reasons include “excessive treatment” and “staged/caused accident.” According to reports, most of the questionable claims come from automobile insurance policies. In fact 83% of questionable claims in 201 involved auto insurance.

Allstate responded to the report. Krista Conte, New York spokesperson for Allstate said, “We commend the NICB on their efforts to fight fraud and raise awareness about this issue, which is extremely important to all New Yorkers. Not only is no-fault fraud, or auto accident fraud, costing New York consumers and insurers hundreds of millions of dollars, it puts drivers at risk. Those who would commit this type of crime are taking advantage of the broken no-fault system and are organized, calculating and part of a big business. They are gaming the auto insurance system and the victims are honest, hard working New Yorkers.”

Commissioner Steve Poizner of the California Department of Insurance alerted motorists earlier today of the dangers of deliberately-induced automobile collisions, perpetrated by those who seek to profit from auto insurance fraud.

More than 60% of all the cases of fraud reported to the California Department of Insurance have been related to automotive insurance. These fraudulent schemes would have resulted in over $182 million worth of total losses for California auto insurance providers, had they not been detected and reported.

The price of crude oil, which has been reaching unprecedented heights throughout 2008, has harmed many businesses in America. However, one type business has benefitted from the high costs of fuel in the US: the automotive insurance provider.

The US Department of Transportation reports that US the amount of miles covered by US drivers during the month of April, 2008 decreased by 1.4 billion, as compared to April 2007. During March of 2008, American motorists covered 4.3% fewer miles, as compared to March of 2007. That percentage represents the biggest annual decrease in miles driven by US motorists since 1942, when the US Department of Transportation started keeping track of this figure in the first place.

Allstate Corp, the largest public provider of automobile and other property insurance in America, has revealed its figures for the second fiscal quarter of 2008. The insurance giant experienced a 98% decrease in revenue since 2007. This decrease was due to the company’s quickly-devaluing investments in the catastrophic US mortgage market, as well as to this year’s spate of storms and other natural disasters, which made property-damage claims skyrocket.