My Reality Check Bounced. May I Have Yours?

NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) is often heralded and praised for its work with its member insurance companies, law enforcement and other partners for the work that it does in combating insurance fraud and helping to educate the public on ways to avoid becoming a victim of fraudulent schemes. Along with praise, undoubtedly there must also be some criticism. Okay. I get that. What I don't get are those who fail to understand the severity of insurance fraud and how it directly impacts each and every one of us.

A recent blog entry by an attorney seemed to believe that the NICB and one of the major broadcast networks is propagating misinformation regarding who bears the burden of proof in injury claims as a means for pushing a political agenda. It further went on to claim that the NICB is owned and operated by the insurance industry. The blog seems to express that the NICB publicizes information concerning an epidemic of unscrupulous personal injury attorneys who represent alleged slip and fall victims in their efforts to take insurance companies to the cleaners.

Neither of the above assertions is true. I'm neither an attorney nor do I claim to be versed in personal injury laws. I'm just a Marketing Manager by profession. However, "Houston. We do have a problem." If one does not readily accept that insurance fraud exists and that we all pay for it, a reality check is coming in your mailbox very soon. It's called your insurance premium. If it seems higher than last year's and the year before that, it's partially because you're paying for a problem that in some people's minds is just propaganda and doesn't exist.