Special insurance industry teams will be assisting law enforcement and insurance companies in identifying and cataloging vehicles damaged by Hurricane Katrina to prevent their fraudulent resale to unsuspecting consumers in the future.

Robert M. Bryant, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Crime Bureau announced that he is dispatching special catastrophe teams to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama. Bryant explained that unscrupulous salvage operators and dealers often try to conceal the fact that vehicles have been damaged by a natural disaster from potential buyers.

“By creating a registry of damaged vehicles now, the potential for this type of fraud can be greatly reduced,” he said. The effort is expected to last from six months to a year.

NCIB Launches Effort to Prevent Katrina Vehicle Sale Fraud (9/9/05)