Insurance fraud motors on

The Gulf Coast, unfortunately, is well represented when it comes to possible auto insurance fraud.

That's the word from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The Des Plaines, Ill.-based nonprofit insurance fraud organization recently released a report on questionable insurance claims in Florida from 2010-2012. Questionable claims, according to a release from the bureau, are claims that “insurance companies refer to NICB for closer review and investigation based on one or more indicators of possible fraud.”

Those referrals are on the rise in Florida, from 8,723 questionable claims in 2010 to 10,693 in 2012, a jump of 23%. Two of the top five metro areas in Florida with the most questionable claims, the study shows, are on the Gulf Coast: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Cape Coral-Fort Myers.

Tampa had the third-highest count of shoddy claims among all Florida cities in 2012 with 690, the report states. The good news there is Tampa pales compared to Miami, which, with 2,309 questionable claims last year, is the overwhelming leader in Florida.