Dollars & Sense

$24.7 Billion

The financial losses caused by identity theft in 2013. According to a national household survey of 70,000 people issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1 out of every 14 Americans age 16 or older was a target or a victim of identity theft. Identity theft resulted in $24.7 billion in financial losses last year and affected more than 16.6 million people. The average financial loss was $1,769.

146,000

The number of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by New York employers in 2012. This represented a significant decrease in the private industry rate of total recordable cases over the year. About 69,000 injury and illnesses were reported by state and local government workers.

.13%

The slight increase in insurance industry hiring reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period November through December 2013. The insurance industry now employs 2.384 million workers compared to 2.381 million in December 2012. Property/casualty insurers added 1,800 jobs in November, the highest number of jobs for the sector since June 2011.

9%

The percentage by which insurance fraud referrals increased in Pennsylvania in 2013, according to fraud statistics compiled by the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority. According to Ralph Burnham, executive director of the Insurance Fraud Prevention Bureau, fraud referrals for auto insurance increased 9 percent; workers’ compensation referrals increased 7 percent; and homeowners’ and renters insurance increased 12 percent. Insurance fraud bureaus in Pennsylvania reported 408 arrests and assisted in an additional 37 arrests made by other law enforcement agencies.

87

The number of people killed on highways in Wyoming in 2013, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. That was 34 fewer than in 2012 and the lowest number since 1945. The number of crashes involving people who weren’t wearing seatbelts dropped 23.8 percent in 2013 over the previous year.

47%

The percentage of people killed in car crashes in Utah who were not wearing a seatbelt. Utah transportation officials say they counted 219 traffic deaths in Utah in 2013, and almost half of the car crash victims who died were not buckled up.

224

The number of aircraft accident fatalities in 2013 involving large commercial planes, a 10-year low. That compares with 703 annually on average from 2003 to 2012.

3.2%

The average premium increase going into effect in the voluntary market for workers’ compensation in Nevada. Nevada employers who purchase their workers’ compensation insurance in the assigned-risk market will see an average increase of 3.3 percent. Both increases will take effect on March 1, 2014.

$30.2 Billion

The amount the insurance industry contributed to California’s gross state product, accounting for about 1.6 percent of the state’s GSP, according to the report, released by the Insurance Information Network of California. California has a nearly $2 trillion economy that ranks it as a global financial power, thanks in part to a multi-billion dollar boost from the property/casualty insurance industry, according to the report. The Insurance Information Institute also found that:

California employs more insurance professionals than any other state. Property/casualty insurers provided 293,807 California jobs in 2012 – almost 10 percent of the nation’s insurance workforce. California insurance jobs accounted for $21.2 billion in compensation in 2012.

• In 2012, property and casualty insurance claims payments totaled $32.6 billion in California, while life insurance claims and benefits payouts in California totaled almost $41.8 billion.
• California collected $2.4 billion in premium taxes from insurers in 2012, more than any other state in the country.
• Californians insure substantially more cars – 24.2 million in all – than drivers in any other state.