ISO's New Auto Claims Database to Help Venezuelan Insurers' All-Out Fight Against Fraudulent Claims

January 1, 2011 / 3 min read

NEW YORK, March 22, 2000 — Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) is taking the battle against auto insurance fraud to Latin America.

Nearly half the Venezuelan automobile insurance industry has turned to ISO to develop an auto claims database — the ISO ClaimSearch VenezuelaSM system — for Venezuelan insurers to identify potentially fraudulent auto claims.

ISO will model the auto claims database for Venezuela after the ISO ClaimSearchSM system, which is the U.S. property/casualty industry's most comprehensive information source for bodily-injury, property and vehicle claims.

ISO ClaimSearch Venezuela, the first expansion of the ISO ClaimSearch system outside of the United States, is the latest in a series of global expansion moves by ISO in the past year. ISO's international expansion steps include the establishment of a Tokyo office, a contract to build an auto-insurance rating system in Israel, and a licensing agreement with Lloyd's of London to use ISO services.

"We are excited about Venezuelan insurers using the ISO ClaimSearch Venezuela system as a potent weapon in their all-out war against fraudulent auto claims," said Richard P. Boehning, ISO's senior vice president in charge of ISO's claims unit. "ISO is fully committed to leveraging its world-class expertise in data management and fraud fighting to assist the Venezuelan insurance market improve profitability, expedite processing of legitimate auto claims, and tighten the vise on auto insurance cheats," he added.

As in the United States, fraud increases the insurance industry's auto losses in Venezuela and drains profitability. Insurers in Venezuela are particularly troubled by individuals who insure the same vehicle with multiple insurance companies and then collect on a claim from all those insurers.

ISO has already made significant progress in building the ISO ClaimSearch Venezuela system. In response to specific requirements of the Venezuelan insurance industry, ISO has developed Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Monitoring Service that will use a newly created database of the identification numbers of the vehicles each insurer covers. The VIN Monitoring Service will alert insurers when two or more of them are insuring the same vehicle.

ISO also will work with Venezuelan insurers to develop a comprehensive database of auto theft, salvage and physical damage claims. When an insurance claim handler submits an auto claim to the system, the ISO ClaimSearch Venezuela system will automatically search the Venezuelan database for any information that matches the newly submitted information and report the results back to the insurer. The system will search the database for matches based on such fields as name and address, personal identification number, VIN and driver license number.

By providing matching information on the claim submitted, the ISO ClaimSearch Venezuela system will indicate to the insurer that a claim may be fraudulent. The individual insurer will then decide on appropriate steps for further investigation of the claim.

ISO also will create a secure website for Venezuelan insurers to submit individual auto claims to the ISO ClaimSearch Venezuela system over the Internet and receive matching claims over the Web.

The ISO ClaimSearch information system in the United States contains more than 140 million records on bodily-injury, property-loss and automobile claims. More than 93 percent of the U.S. insurance market, based on premium volume, subscribes to the ISO ClaimSearch system.

ISO is a leading source of information about property and liability risk. ISO provides statistical, actuarial, underwriting and claims information and analyses; consulting and technical services; policy language; and information about specific locations for a broad spectrum of commercial and personal lines of insurance. In the United States and around the world, ISO serves more than 2,900 insurers and reinsurers as well as agents, brokers, self-insureds, risk managers, insurance regulators and other government agencies.

Release: Immediate

Contacts:
Giuseppe Barone / Erica Helton
MWW Group (for ISO)
201-507-9500
gbarone@mww.com / ehelton@mww.com