Research Publications | Insurance Research Council

Pollution Liability Claims Administration

Due to a number of complex and inter-related factors, insurers have had major difficulties in developing a broad market for pollution liability insurance. This study explores some of the forces that have hampered development of a market. These include trends in the civil justice system that make it difficult to assess risk, Superfund legislation and regulations, adverse selection and the lack of a broad base of demand for the product. The report also contains an analysis of underwriting procedures and practices of property-casualty insurers writing pollution liability insurance during late 1984 and early 1985.

Patterns of Shopping Behavior in Auto Insurance

This report contains the findings of three related surveys to determine how vehicle owners shop for auto insurance and types of information available to them. The studies found that consumers engage in a large amount of comparison shopping, and report little difficulty in obtaining the information they need for buying auto insurance.

Public Attitude Monitor 1984

This nationwide survey of U.S. households probes public attitudes toward sale of insurance by various kinds of financial institutions and the steps needed to protect the public from insolvencies of private financial institutions. It also examines how people shop for auto insurance.

Special Investigative Units

This report shows findings from several surveys on insurer use of Special Investigative Units to combat fraud. Included is a study tracking costs and estimated savings from denial of fraudulent claims by 19 companies with SIUs, information on types of insurance fraud investigated, and information on SIU structure, training and qualifications of SIU personnel, and legal issues.

Crime Losses in Property Casualty Insurance

his study measures the overall impact of crime-related insurance claims on the various kinds of insurance policies sold by property-casualty insurers. Results are stated in terms of crime losses as a percentage of all losses, countrywide and by state, for personal and commercial lines of insurance and for various types of criminal activity. The report also estimates annual dollar costs per household and per employee.

Crime Losses in Property Casualty Insurance

Evaluation of Motor Vehicle Records

This study evaluates state motor vehicle records as a source of information on individual driver accidents and convictions in the 37 states that made available such information as of 1983. The study shows great variability among states in the amount of accident and conviction information found on publicly available state records, and provides explanations for these differences across states.

Uninsured Motorist: Facts & Figures (1984)

This study pulls together available statistics on uninsured and hit-and-run motorists countrywide and on a state-by-state basis. It includes information on the historical development of the uninsured motorist coverage, characteristics of uninsured motorists, estimates of the size of the uninsured motorists problem by state, and on state laws pertaining to uninsured and underinsured motorists.

Structured Settlements

Insurance companies are making increasing use of annuities and other forms of "structured" settlements in lieu of lump-sum payments to disabled or seriously injured liability claimants. This report contains findings of a survey involving 54 major property-casualty insurers concerning their use of the technique, criteria used for making structured settlement offers, funding arrangements and other aspects.

Public Attitude Monitor 1983

In addition to covering many of the auto-related topics probed in the three previous PAM surveys, the 1983 study introduces a number of new topics including public perceptions of homeowners insurance, types of coverage, cost of owning and operating a car, gender-neutral insurance rating factors, and drunk driving.