According to statistics kept by Swiss Re, the most costly insurance loss in the world in the last thirty-seven years was Hurricane Katrina. In U.S. Dollars, that disaster cost various insurance companies $45 billion dollars. That number not only includes all damage in the United States, but also includes Caribbean countries and damage to property such as oil rigs found in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimates the cost of insurance fraud at $80 billion dollars annually. Every year, enough money to rebuild all of the Katrina damage – TWICE - is stolen from insurance companies. Fortunately, Willison Hellman can help.
According to the FBI crime statistics, arson was the proven and undisputed cause in 9% of all fires in the United States in 2005. When suspicious and suspected arson fires are added to that number, it is approximately 25% of fires in this country. However, the conviction rate continues to hover at approximately 2%. In 2005, 3,825 arsons were reported in the Sate of Michigan alone. Unfortunately, only 378 of those cases resulted in an arrest. There were no statistics available as to how many of those cases resulted in a conviction. According to the Michigan Arson Prevention Committee, another 2,963 suspicious fires were reported in Michigan that same year.
The total property loss on these 6,788 fires alone is $119 million dollars. That figure does not include investigative costs, additional living expenses, business interruption, demolition or any other non-property costs. In other words, a suspicious or intentional fire occurred every 77 minutes in the State of Michigan alone in 2005. Amazingly, if arson and suspicious fire losses from just 2005 in the State of Michigan alone were combined into one event, it would have ranked among the most costly insurance losses in the world that year, according to the Swiss Re study.
However, the problem is much bigger than arson. Padded insurance claims, false claims, and other staged events all continue to be significant problems. Unfortunately, they are also gaining in social acceptance. If insurance fraud is a crime, then insurance companies are the victims. Criminals attack the weakest and most vulnerable victims first. Insurance fraud is no different. Those companies who have chosen to not adequately protect themselves against this crime wave are the most vulnerable to be hit by it. Quite simply, wherever insurance fraud is not fought, it will thrive.
When you are ready to fight, we are ready to help. Statistically, you may not find a better firm. When we go to trial, we almost never lose. In fact we win our fraud trials more than 90% of the time. But Willison Hellman is NOT one of those firms afraid to try a case. In fact, less than 20% of fraud litigation handled by this firm ends with a negotiated settlement. And most of those are settlements for less than 5% of the original claimed amount. In fact, one client found that over a three year period, 80% of the fraud litigation files sent to us ends with no payment to the insured at all.
