Dollars & Sense

$2.7 Million
The amount of premium fraud tracked by Texas Mutual Insurance Co. in 2012. The company also reported 196 instances of confirmed employee fraud in the same year. The company, which also tracks healthcare provider fraud cases, said it saved an estimated $1.2 million as a result of investigations it conducted with approximately $560,000 in questionable bills denied.

25%
The percentage of homeowners surveyed by Nationwide Insurance that say they have left the front door of their home unlocked when leaving the house at least once in the past year. The survey revealed that while a majority of homeowners (79 percent) have at least one common theft-prevention measure (e.g., alarm system, deadbolt), three in 10 (30 percent) do not use any. While the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association estimates nearly one-third of all burglars enter through the front door, just 15 percent of homeowners in Nationwide’s survey correctly believe it’s the most common entry point.

41%
The percentage of 18- to 34-year-old homeowners surveyed by Nationwide Insurance that claim they post social media photos and updates when they are on vacation.

$1 Billion
The cost of insured losses in 2012 for lightning strikes, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). An analysis of homeowners’ insurance data by the I.I.I. and State Farm found there were 151,000 insurer-paid lightning claims in 2012, down nearly 19 percent from 2011. The I.I.I. puts the average lightning paid-claim amount at $6,400 in 2012, up 25 percent from 2011. These two factors resulted in $969 million in total paid lightning claims, up 1.7 percent from 2011.

142%
The percentage that the average cost per paid lightning claim rose from 2004-2012. Since 2004, paid lightning claims dropped by an average of 7.5 percent per year, resulting in a 46 percent drop over the eight-year period through 2012. The decline may be attributed to an increased use of lightning protection systems.

26
The number of lightning-related deaths that occurred while fishing between 2006 and 2012, according to a NOAA study. Of the 152 deaths associated with leisure activities, fishing is followed by camping (15 deaths), boating (14 deaths), soccer (12 deaths) and golf (8 deaths). The remaining 77 people were struck by lightning while participating in other leisure activities like enjoying the beach, swimming, walking and running, riding recreational vehicles, and picnicking or relaxing in their yard. Eighty-two percent of people killed by lightning were male.

1 in 24M
The likelihood of being seriously injured on an amusement park ride, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. The association’s statistics show there’s just a 1 in 750 million chance of dying on a ride. There’s no federal oversight of permanent amusement parks, and regulations vary from state to state. The association said 44 state governments regulate parks. The six without state oversight — Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah — have few amusement parks, if any.

1,539
The number of U.S. civil aviation accidents in 2012, which fell from 1,550 in 2011, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. For the third year in row, there were no fatal accidents involving commercial air transport. In addition, there were no fatal accidents involving commuter operations, the sixth year in a row that this segment of aviation experienced no fatalities. For the general aviation community, the results were mixed. Although the number of total accidents (1,471) and fatal accidents (271) increased from the previous year, there were fewer (432) fatalities and the accident rate per 100,000 flight hours declined to 6.78.

2,866
The number of people arrested for drunken driving in North Carolina during the latest “Booze It & Lose It” campaign. The campaign, which ran from Aug. 16 through Sept. 2, included the Labor Day weekend. A total of 2,866 people were arrested for drunk driving. In addition to DWI arrests, local and state law enforcement officers issued 9,568 safety belt and 1,376 child passenger safety violations. There were 29,184 speeding violations and 3,185 drug charges. In addition, they apprehended 2,938 fugitives from justice and recovered 173 stolen vehicles.