In some 76 percent of all cases of identity fraud reported by Travelers customers, burglary, stolen wallets and stolen identifications top the list of the most common known causes, according to a study of Travelers’ 2009 claims data.

The findings mirror last year’s report on Travelers’ 2008 claims data which indicated that the majority of identity fraud cases reported by customers were from burglaries and stolen wallets. The data reveals how thieves still prefer more low-tech means of identity fraud over online-related thefts and data breaches that typically receive significant media attention.

“This study suggests once again that more traditional means of identity fraud are prevalent today and continue to pose significant risks to consumers,” said Joe Reynolds, Identity Fraud Product Manager for Travelers. “Knowing this, it is critical that consumers take steps to protect themselves and their property.”

Travelers identified the following as the top known causes of identity fraud for its customers:

76 percent – burglary and theft of wallet/purse/personal identification/computer
9 percent – online or data breach
9 percent – forgery
6 percent – change of address/postal fraud

The study also found that 74 percent of the time criminals use the stolen personal information to open new credit card accounts or use the existing credit cards to make charges. Of that 74 percent, 26 percent of identity thieves access existing credit/debit cards, 21 percent open new cards and make charges in the victim’s name, and 18 percent access and withdraw funds from existing checking, savings and online retail accounts.

A study by Javelin Strategy & Research showed that the number of identity fraud victims jumped by 12 percent to 11.1 million adults in 2009, the biggest increase since the survey began in 2003.

“Identity fraud is a crime that can happen to anyone, anywhere, and so it’s particularly important for people to exercise diligence in protecting their personal information,” noted Reynolds.

Read more: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2010/08/24/112692.htm#ixzz0xdXYSKke

The study found that 47 percent of all adults who text have done so while driving, compared with 34 percent of teens (aged 16 to 17) who text.

Additionally, 74 percent of adults who own cell phones have talked while driving, while 52 percent of teens with phones have done so.

To further highlight the distractions presented by cell phones, the study also found that 17 percent of adults said they have physically run into another person or object while talking or texting on the phone.

Currently, 28 states and Washington D.C. prohibit texting while driving, and seven states and Washington D.C. ban cell phone use while driving.

Preliminary 2009 statistics indicate that violent crime in the nation decreased 5.5 percent and property crime declined 4.9 percent when compared with data from 2008. Data in the report came from 13,237 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 months of data in both 2008 and 2009.

Highlights from the report include:

Property Crime

• All property crime offenses—burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft—decreased in 2009 when compared with 2008 data. Motor vehicle theft showed the largest drop in volume at 17.2 percent, larceny-thefts declined 4.2 percent, and burglaries decreased 1.7 percent.

• The nation’s largest cities, one million or more inhabitants, reported the greatest decrease, 7.9 percent, in property crime overall. Of the city groupings, this population group also reported the biggest decreases in the offenses that comprise property crime: a 21.1 percent drop in motor vehicle theft, a 5.7 percent decline in burglary, and a 5.5 percent decrease in larceny-theft. In the nation’s nonmetropolitan counties, larceny-thefts fell 9.5 percent; in metropolitan counties, larceny-thefts declined 5.9 percent.

• The only population group to indicate a rise in any type of property crime was in nonmetropolitan counties, where burglary rose 0.5 percent.

• In comparing 2008 data and 2009 data by region, law enforcement agencies in the West reported the biggest decline in property crime, with a decrease of 6.8 percent. Property crime declined 5.6 percent in the Midwest, 5.3 percent in the Northeast, and 3.2 percent in the South.

Arson

• Arson offenses, which are tracked separately from other property crimes, declined 10.4 percent nationwide. All population groups reported decreases in the volume of arson offenses. In addition, arson fell in all four of the nation’s regions: 11.6 percent in the West, 10.6 percent in the South, 9.2 percent in the Midwest, and 8.6 percent in the Northeast.

Violent Crime

• All four violent crime offenses — murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—declined nationwide in 2009 when compared with 2008 data. Robbery dropped 8.1 percent, murder decreased 7.2 percent, aggravated assault declined 4.2 percent, and forcible rape decreased 3.1 percent.

• Violent crime fell in all city groupings. The largest decrease, 7.5 percent, was in cities with populations ranging from 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants. Violent crime declined 4.0 percent in the nation’s metropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.

• Cities with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants were the only city population group to report an increase in the number of murders, 5.3 percent. The number of murders in the nation’s nonmetropolitan counties also rose, 1.8 percent.

• Forcible rape trends dropped in all city population groups. The largest decrease was 7.3 percent in cities of less than 10,000 residents. Metropolitan counties reported a 3.7 percent decline in the number of rapes, but the number of rapes reported in nonmetropolitan counties rose slightly, 0.3 percent.

• All population groups reported decreases in the volume of robbery in 2009. Of the city groups, cities with populations of 100,000 to 249,999 had the largest decrease at 10.3 percent. Metropolitan counties reported a 6.7 percent drop in robberies; nonmetropolitan counties reported a 0.7 percent decline.

• The number of aggravated assaults declined in all population groups, with cities of 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants reporting a 6.3 percent decrease. Aggravated assaults declined 3.7 percent in nonmetropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in metropolitan counties.

• All four regions in the nation showed decreases in violent crime in 2009 when compared with data from 2008. Violent crime decreased 6.6 percent in the South, 5.6 percent in the West, 4.6 percent in the Midwest, and 3.5 percent in the Northeast.

Source: FBI
Read more: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2010/05/25/110166.htm#ixzz0p305rcFX

Crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that the mix of low-speed vehicles (LSVs) or minitrucks and regular traffic is a deadly combination.

LSVs are designed for tooling around residential neighborhoods, and minitrucks are for hauling cargo off-road. While these vehicles have a lot of appeal as a way to reduce emissions and cut fuel use, they don’t have to meet the basic safety standards that cars and pickups do, and they aren’t designed to protect their occupants in crashes, researchers note.

“By allowing LSVs and minitrucks on more and more kinds of roads, states are carving out exceptions to 40 years of auto safety regulations that save lives,” says David Zuby, the Institute’s chief research officer. “It’s a troubling trend that flies in the face of the work insurers, automakers, and the federal government have done to reduce crash risk.”

Practically every state allows LSVs, also called neighborhood electric vehicles, on certain roads, mostly with 35 mph or lower speed limits. Eight years ago just over a dozen states permitted them but now 46 do.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines appropriate performance and safety standards but has no say in where LSVs are driven. The same goes for minitrucks, which are legal to operate on some roads in 16 states, even though they weren’t designed to meet U.S. safety or emission standards. The trend to grant minitrucks access to regular roads began in 2007 and is growing at a quick pace.

“On one hand you have NHTSA saying these vehicles were meant for low-risk, controlled environments or farm use, and on the other hand states are pushing them out onto the highways,” Zuby points out.

LSVs were envisioned as a low-cost, eco-friendly way to tool around gated communities in the Sun Belt where they would have little interaction with larger vehicles. NHTSA doesn’t require LSVs to have airbags or other safety features beyond belts since they’re intended for low-risk driving. Most minitrucks in the United States are used right-hand-drive vehicles imported from Japan, where they can operate on roads as long as they pass inspection every 2 years. Vehicles that fail often end up exported to North America. Also known as Kei-class vehicles, minitrucks are smaller than conventional pickups and weigh about 1,500 pounds. They must be imported with governors to limit speeds to 25 mph or less to be exempt from Clean Air Act provisions but can go much faster.

NHTSA in 1998 established safety standards for LSVs to be used on “short trips for shopping, social, and recreational purposes primarily within retirement or other planned communities with golf courses.” They must be able to go at least 20 mph but no faster than 25 mph. Basic features are required: headlights, taillights, stoplights, turn signals, reflectors, parking brakes, rearview mirrors, windshields, safety belts, and vehicle identification numbers.

Minitrucks weren’t an issue when NHTSA wrote LSV rules. The agency in 2006 amended the standards to include vehicles with gross vehicle weight ratings up to 3,000 pounds, and now 4 states require minitrucks to meet LSV standards. Still, NHTSA believes minitrucks should keep off the road. In a July 2009 letter of interpretation, the agency said that because “these vehicles are not manufactured to meet U.S. safety standards, NHTSA cannot endorse their use on public highways.”

The Energy Department estimates there are 45,000 LSVs on U.S. roads. New LSVs qualify for up to a $2,500 tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Many states also offer tax incentives.

“Lost amid the talk about so-called sustainable transportation is any regard for the safety of people who ride in LSVs and minitrucks,” Zuby says. “We’re all for green vehicles that don’t trade safety for fuel efficiency.”

For eco-minded consumers, a better choice for regular traffic is a crashworthy hybrid like the Toyota Prius or another fuel-efficient car. Also worth a look are the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt, two battery-powered cars slated for delivery later this year, researchers say.

Crash Tests
To show that LSVs and minitrucks are no match for even the smallest of regular cars and pickups, Institute researchers tested two GEM e2 electric vehicles and a Changan Tiger Star minitruck. The GEMs were in side tests, one using a moving deformable barrier and the other using a Smart Fortwo as the striking vehicle. The Smart is the smallest passenger vehicle on US roads that meets crashworthiness standards. The Tiger struck a Ford Ranger XL regular cab pickup in a frontal offset test. The Ranger is one of the least pricey small pickups on the market. It earns an acceptable rating in the Institute’s frontal crashworthiness test, the lowest rating in its vehicle class.

The test dummies in the GEMs and the Tiger recorded indications of seriously debilitating or fatal injury to drivers in real-world crashes. In contrast, the Smart performed well and the Ranger reasonably so in similar crash tests.

“There’s a world of difference between vehicles that meet crashworthiness standards and those that don’t,” Zuby says. “It may be time for Congress to step in to extend federal passenger vehicle safety standards to LSVs or else restrict them to the low-risk traffic environments they were designed to navigate.”

Read more: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2010/05/20/110034.htm#ixzz0oVAahTGf

IBHS is also trying to dispel some common myths about hurricane preparedness.

Forecasters predict 15 named storms to form in the Atlantic basin between June 1 and November 30, with eight expected to be hurricanes and four developing into major hurricanes (Saffir/Simpson category 3-4-5) with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. The prediction is based on the premise that El Nino conditions will dissipate by this summer and that anomalously warm tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures will persist.

IBHS is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization supported by the property insurance industry. Here’s what IBHS wants property owners to know:

Facts:
1. A new, well-installed roof is one of the best forms of protection available

If your shingle roof cover needs to be replaced, do it now, while there is still enough time for the shingles to heat up and seal properly before a storm threatens. Be sure to remove older material down to the roof sheathing and have the deck re-nailed. Spend a little extra to provide a secondary water barrier (in some areas, insurance discount may be available if you re-nail and/or install an approved secondary water barrier so check with your insurance company) and have a high wind-rated roof cover installed. IBHS has detailed guidance available to help you specify a quality installation.

2. Protecting all openings in exterior walls will greatly improve a building’s chances for surviving a hurricane

One of the most important things you can do to improve the chances your home or business will survive a hurricane is to protect all windows and doors. The range of products on the market today, such as storm shutters or impact-resistant windows, means it’s easier to find protection that fits your budget. Whatever you choose, make sure the product has the proper product approvals for wind pressure and large-missile impact. If it is not a permanent product, place permanent fasteners ahead of time so installation is easier when storms threaten. Gable end vents can be shuttered as if they were a window. Garage door companies have bracing systems available for about $400 that should work for most door styles.

3. Securing loose roof shingles is critical

Keeping shingles attached is critical. If the edge shingles are not well fastened or extend beyond the drip edge more than a 1/4″, high wind can lift them off and create a peeling process or domino effect. If they come up without much effort (older shingles become brittle and may crack when bent too much), secure them with three one-inch dabs of roofing cement under each tab.

4. Sealing openings, cracks and holes will help prevent water damage
Water can invade homes in a number of ways, especially when it’s being blown horizontally. The problem is compounded if there is a loss of power and air conditioners or dehumidifiers are unable to dry things out. Fill holes where wires, cables and pipes enter and exit the house and seal around electrical boxes and circuit breaker panels. Seal cracks around wall outlets, dryer vents, bathroom and kitchen vents, and wall lights.

5. Strengthening soffits (the material covering the underside of your roof overhang) also helps prevent water damage

Keeping soffits in place can help keep water out of your house. Some vinyl and aluminum soffit covers have wood supports, but the soffit material is not adequately fastened to the wood, or there is no wood backing and the vinyl or aluminum channels are stapled or nailed to the wall. If there are wood supports, secure soffit material with sharp-pointed stainless steel screws. If the channels are just nailed to the wall, you can use polyurethane caulk to seal the channel to the wall and tie the parts together.

6. Limiting potential flying debris helps protect your building
Limiting possible sources of wind-borne debris by surveying your building’s surroundings before a storm will help protect your home or business and those around you. Replace gravel/rock landscaping materials with shredded bark. Limit yard objects. Keep trees and shrubbery trimmed. Cut weak branches.

Myths:
1. Open the windows on the leeward side of the house so the air pressure doesn’t explode the building
It is almost impossible to know ahead of time which wall will be the leeward wall – and wind directions frequently change as a storm passes. Trying to open and close windows during the storm puts you next to glass that can break, causing injury. Also, as wind direction changes, open windows could allow wind-driven rain to stream into your house or business and ruin belongings. The normal leakage of air around windows and doors will tend to keep the pressure in your building slightly lower than the atmospheric pressure caused by the storm outside. The greatest danger comes when a large window or door fails on a wall facing the wind. The key is keeping all wind and water out with proper opening protection.

2. You only need to protect the openings facing the ocean or gulf

Because hurricanes are a moving, rotating storm, winds can come from any direction, which can change rapidly if you are near the eye. Your best bet is to protect windows and doors on all sides of your building.

3. Tape windows with a big “X”

Taping glass does nothing to address the main point of protection – keeping the glass in its frame and securely attached to the building.

4. Leaning or pushing against a window or door that is being blown inward by wind pressure can help keep the window or door from breaking or opening.

This clearly puts you in harm’s way and increases the likelihood that you will be cut or injured. No matter what kind of glass you have, stay away from all windows during a severe storm. Before a storm threatens, review the anchorage of your doors. On entry doors, you can install extra latches and make sure that hinges are well-anchored with long screws that extend into the wall framing. Take protective action ahead of time so that you won’t be tempted to try and keep doors closed by pushing on them. Put as many walls as you can between you and the windward side of your home.

Read more: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2010/05/19/109991.htm#ixzz0oPJlWbhl

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, seven states currently ban driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone. The use of all cell phones by novice drivers is restricted in 21 states and the District of Columbia.

Text messaging is banned for all drivers in 19 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in nine states.

Meanwhile, Florida, Kentucky and Alabama are among the states weighing their own bans.

Nearly one out of five U.S. drivers surveyed has read or sent a text message while behind the wheel, according to a recent AAA survey – even though they consider such action unacceptable.

The AAA, the National Safety Council and most safety advocates have urged texting bans for drivers in all 50 states.

But recently an insurance industry study questioned whether these state laws are worth enacting.

The Highway Loss Data Institute study found that claims rates did not go down after the laws were enacted. It also found no change in patterns compared with nearby states without such bans.

HLDI is a respected research group but its results in this study seem to defy everyday experience, common sense and human psychology.

HLDI itself said its findings “don’t match what we already know about the risk of phoning and texting while driving” and it is gathering data to “figure out this mismatch.” One explanation could be an increase in the use of hands-free devices in places with bans on handset use while driving.

Dr. Amit Almor, a psychology researcher at the University of South Carolina, says language and driving are complex activities that tax the brain in many ways. Almor completed two studies in 2008 and 2009 that looked at the demands on the brain when talking on cell phones while driving. Texting adds another layer of language and motor skills, which Almor warns can make for a lethal combination.

“Verbal communication is a complex combination of listening, thought generating and talking. Driving involves assessment and decision-making and an array of motor skills,” Almor says. “Talking on a cell phone while driving is distracting and dangerous. Texting is far worse, as it adds another motor skill and keeps the driver in a different mental space for a much longer period of time.”

Adrian Lund, HLDI president, said the group’s finding doesn’t bode well “for any safety payoff from all the new laws.”

The National Governors Association said the HLDI study “raises as many questions as it answers” and is urging states to pass texting bans, but hold off on banning other cell phone use while driving until there is more data.

Follow-up research should be put on a fast track. States do not need more laws that don’t work but they also shouldn’t let one study keep them from their safety mission. Isn’t it always better to be safe than sorry?

By Andrew G. Simpson

Bernie Fette, one of the study’s authors said, “Everything points in the same direction for this age group, and that is to the use of cell phones behind the wheel. Whenever you combine the nighttime danger and the cell phone dangers with inexperience, you have created a perfect storm.”

The study used federal traffic data from 1999 to 2008, a period in which the overall number of traffic deaths declined nationwide.

The study found that among drivers aged 20 and older, alcohol was a major factor in the proportional increase in nighttime deaths, but with teen drivers, no corresponding jump in deaths could be attributed to drunken driving.

Studies show that teenagers tend to underestimate the dangers of cell phone use, and are often unaware that nightfall increases risk posed by their inexperience and fatigue.

The study found that nighttime driving poses the number one risk for fatalities among teenage drivers, followed by speed, distractions, failure to wear a seat belt and the use of alcohol.

In its second forecast in four months for the 2010 season, the leading storm research team founded by hurricane forecast pioneer William Gray said the six-month season beginning on June 1 would likely see 15 named tropical storms.

The team forecast a 69 percent chance of at least one major hurricane making landfall on the U.S. coastline in 2010, compared with a long-term average probability of 52 percent.

Major hurricanes pack powerful sustained winds of at least 111 miles per hour .

For the Gulf Coast, from the Florida Panhandle west to Brownsville, Texas, including the Gulf of Mexico oil patch, the probability of a major hurricane making landfall was seen at 44 percent versus a long-term average of 30 percent, the Colorado State University team said.

“While patterns may change before the start of the hurricane season, we believe current conditions warrant concern for an above-average season,” Gray said in a statement.

An average Atlantic season has about 10 tropical storms, of which six become hurricanes.

The Colorado State University team also predicted a 58 percent chance of a major hurricane tracking into the Caribbean, where Haiti is vulnerable after a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that left more than a million people homeless.

Extreme Season Feared

The earlier forecast in December by Gray’s team had already predicted an “above-average” season producing 11 to 16 tropical storms, including six to eight hurricanes. It had said three to five of next year’s storms would become “major” hurricanes of Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.

Another forecaster, AccuWeather.com, last month also forecast a potentially “extreme” hurricane season this year, with “above-normal threats” to the U.S. coastline.

AccuWeather said five hurricanes, two or three of them major, were expected to strike the U.S. coast, forming out of an expected 16 to 18 tropical storms, almost all of them in the western Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.

The 2009 season ended Nov. 30 had only nine storms, including three hurricanes, and was the quietest since 1997 due in part to El Nino, the eastern Pacific warm water phenomenon that tends to suppress Atlantic hurricanes.

But Phil Klotzbach, lead forecaster with the Colorado State team — whose research is followed closely by energy and commodity markets — said El Nino was expected to dissipate fully by the start of this year’s storm season.

“The dissipating El Nino, along with the expected anomalously warm Atlantic ocean sea surface temperatures, will lead to favorable dynamic and thermodynamic conditions for hurricane formation and intensification,” said Klotzbach.

The Colorado State University team has repeatedly cautioned that extended-range forecasts for hurricane activity are imprecise and can often miss the mark.

The university team originally expected the 2009 season to produce 14 tropical cyclones, of which seven would become hurricanes. But the season, which ended on Nov. 30 and was the quietest since 1997, had only nine storms, including three hurricanes.

By Pascal Fletcher
April 8, 2010

The North Carolina Medical Board has expanded its Web site to include the data on the 35,000 licensed physicians and physician assistants it licenses and regulates.

The information includes malpractice suits that have been settled or lost since May 2008. The General Assembly established that cutoff date after medical providers, insurers and defense lawyers objected to posting older malpractice data.

The Web site www.ncmedboard.org allows consumers to search by a doctor’s name or by city.

The board has maintained a searchable database of information regarding its licensees’ education, training and professional background for several years. Those listings included board certifications and disciplinary history, if any, with the state medical board.

But a recent change in North Carolina law authorized the board to expand this information to include the malpractice liability payment information and additional details including final suspensions or revocations of hospital privileges; final disciplinary orders or actions of any regulatory board or agency; felony convictions; and misdemeanor convictions involving offenses against a person, offenses of moral turpitude, offenses involving the use of drugs or alcohol and violations of public health and safety codes.

Licensees are required to report this information to the board under state law.

“If Toyota drivers experience any issues with their accelerator pedal, they should contact their Toyota dealer without delay,” said Robert Passmore, senior director of claims for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).

In the event that a driver experiences an accelerator pedal that sticks or returns slowly to idle position, Toyota says the vehicle can be controlled with firm and steady application of the brakes. The brakes should not be pumped repeatedly because it could deplete vacuum assist, requiring stronger brake pedal pressure. The vehicle should be driven to the nearest safe location, the engine shut off and a Toyota dealer contacted for assistance.

“Consumer safety is a top concern for the insurance industry and we are encouraged that Toyota dealers nationwide are beginning to make repairs on the vehicles involved in the recall,” said Passmore.

Insurers want consumers to know that if Toyota’s recalled part causes an accident, the driver’s automobile liability or physical damage insurance will provide coverage.

“This type of unforeseen event is what insurance is for,” said PCI’s Passmore. “If the pedal is a factor, the insurer will pay the claim for the driver and then likely seek to be reimbursed by Toyota. This is one less thing for the consumer to worry about.”

There is also good news for consumers because a vehicle recall by itself will generally not cause insurance rates to increase, Passmore said. “Looking forward, it is unlikely that rates would be affected by the recall.”

Over the years Toyotas have had a good safety record as evidenced by their popularity, so it is unlikely that there will be enough accidents caused by the faulty pedals that rates will increase, according to Passmore.

“Insurers look at the cost of claims over a period of time for vehicle,” he added. “They are interested in how much it costs to repair a vehicle and how often the vehicle is involved in an accident.”

While Toyota is pursuing repairs to recalled vehicles, the nation’s largest auto insurer says Toyota vehicle safety has been a concern for some time.