NU Online News Service, Aug. 24, 3:32 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON--Insurance crime experts are warning that"slip and fall" claims are soaring, and as a result, such claimsare coming under greater scrutiny for potential fraud by bothinsurers and investigators.

The Des Plaines, Ill.-based National Insurance Crime Bureau(NICB) said today that an analysis of questionable slip and fallclaims submitted by NICB member companies showed a 57 percentincrease in the number of referrals over the past two and a halfyears.

That has led the NICB to increase its focus on commercial fraud,with slip and fall and workers' compensation fraud cases beingpriorities for many NICB member companies, according to Joe Wehrle,NICB president and chief executive officer.

One concern is that many retailers are self-insured, and theylook at slips and falls as a cost of doing business. They'll writea check without investigating, Mr. Wehrle said.

"Based on what companies have told us, we think that adds up tomillions of dollars in unwarranted payouts," he said.

"We're reaching out to these companies and urging them to joinus in fighting commercial fraud," he said.

The number of slip and fall questionable claims submitted toNICB went from 325 in the 2008 first quarter to a high of 565 inthe 2009 fourth quarter.

In the 2010 first half, there were 997 slip and fall claimsreferred to NICB for further analysis, Mr. Wehrle said.

New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Chicago werethe five cities with the most questionable claims for slips andfalls, and California, Florida, New York, Illinois and Texas werethe top five states, he said.

More than 4,600 questionable claims were received in 2008, 2009and the first half of 2010, according to the NICB, and most weretied to commercial policies.

"While many people have legitimate accidents in stores andbusinesses across the country, we've seen a growing number of casesthat have some indication of potential fraud," Mr. Wehrle said.

"Our agents, working with insurance company investigators andlaw enforcement, are busy identifying and targeting organizedcriminal rings that make a good living staging slip and fallaccidents," he said.

"They come into an area and hit several retailers, grocers orother businesses with sophisticated schemes and professionalexecution," he explained.

"They hope to collect a quick payout and move on before anyonerealizes what's going on," he said.

"A typical slip and fall case may involve two people going intoa big box store or retailer and splitting up," Mr. Wehrle said.

The first person goes down an aisle while the other keeps alookout, he said.

"When the coast is clear, he or she pulls out a small bottle ofliquid, pours it on the floor and then pretends to fall on thefloor," he said. "The partner runs to assist and tells everyonethat he witnessed the fall," he said.

"Fortunately, we've worked with insurers to raise the awarenesslevel and urged companies to analyze claims before they pay," Mr.Wehrle said.