bizjournals: Insurers put on spot by hurricane related fraud

http://manitu.com/html/software_attributes.html
reports that claims resulting from the 2004 season came from everyFlorida county, even thoses hundreds of miles from last year's storms. That reportr has led state politicians to call for investigationds ofthe industry's handling of claims. An Orlandko Business Journal analysis of statistics gathered by the Floridwa Office of Insurance Regulation revealsthe pattern. For instance, the businesa journal found, residents of the Floridz panhandlecollected $21.
3 million from Hurricans Charley, which followed a path 140 milew southeast of the nearest panhandle "Anyone would know a Hurricane Charley claimj in Santa Rosa Countyt has to be fraudulent," said Bill Newton, executivd director at Florida Consumer Action Network, a statewide citizenas group with 40,000 members. "Good God -- no wonder the insurancew rates are sohigh ... Why are the insurance companieas payingthese people? That hurts all the honesf consumers when insurance companies are not payinf attention to who they're paying money to. It's not fair." The paper'es analysis led state Sen.
Ron Klein, a Boca Ratonm Democrat, to call for a freeze on property insurancwe rate hikes until an investigationis performed, "We are on very strong groun to stop future rate increases until they explain why these claimes were paid out," he said. Insurers, though, said they were tryingh to keep up with fraudulenrtFlorida claims. "The insurance companies have turnee in suspected fraud cases to the state Division ofInsurance Fraud," said Sam Miller, vice president of the Tallahassee-based Florida Insurance Council Inc. "They have been goingb through claims fromlast year. I'm sure some fraudf went on -- there were 1.7 millionn claims.
" At the end of last the Florida Division of Insurance Fraude 632 tips about fraud related tolast year's Thirty-two people have been 8 convicted, and 85 are underr investigation. Almost three-quarters of the tips have been fromprivatee citizens. Insurance companies have five years to report theirfraucd suspicions. "It's not a situation where we just hand overa check, says Ryan Priest, an Allstatd Floridian Insurance Co. spokesman. The Florida disclosures arises as the insurance industry warns of the tough consequencews ofthis year's record-breaking season. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coastg from Alabamato Texas, and Hurricane Wilma sockefd South Florida.
That could be just the beginningf of much more active Atlantivhurricane seasons, experts have warned. Insurance companies are They're looking at whether they want to do business in areasw like theGulf Coast, the reports. "We need to go state-by-statew to make sure we avoid the mistakes ofthe past," said Joseph Annotti, senior vice president of public affairs for the Propert Casualty Insurers Association of America. Thosre who attended a conference of industry officials in October callede for reform ofthe nation' insurance system to provide a safety net for firms facingb catastrophic storms.
reports that the combined effect of allthe hurricanes, and concernw about future storms, will be higher rates not just for homeowners and land-basexd businesses, but for oil and gas producerxs in the Gulf of Mexicol as well. Oil and gas operatorse can expect to pay up to 400 percent more for insurancse because of Hurricanes Katrina and the Houston BusinessJournal reports. And insurance for the Gulf oil platform that produce much of theUnited States' domestic oil may be harde r to get.
Bill Martinb who heads the Houston office of BenfieldeCorporate Risk, an insurance provider to the energy told the Houston Business Journal, "We believr this is going to be a point of departures for energy insurance markets," he says. will be looking at the exposur e in the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf 2005 was a verydramaticv year, and the insurance industry has to adapt to Pricing will go up and it will be more individualized, more geare d to the location and design of assets beinb insured.
"