NCJ Number
101408
Date Published
1984
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This paper considers the possible relationship between the reported incidence of burglary as well as the amount of burglary losses and burglary insurance procedures in England, comments on the philosphy of 'moral hazard' in insurance practice, and suggests how insurers might help prevent burglaries.
Abstract
The Home Office's 1982 statement that the incidence and loss amounts of burglary have increased may not indicate actual increases but be due to changed reporting practices and a rise in burglary insurance fraud. Insurers require that a burglary be reported to police before a claim will be paid, thus increasing the number of burglaries reported to police. Insurance fraud involves inflating the cost of items stolen, thus producing an increase in recorded burglary losses. In an effort to screen out fraud risks, insurance companies label some applicants as 'moral hazards.' Insurers would be more in accord with contemporary criminology if they viewed all insureds as 'moral hazards' under tempting circumstances. Insurance procedures should address both fraud and burglary prevention. Some recommendations are to have no-claim premium discounts, require insureds to use intrusion alarms with low false-alarm rates, to integrate crime prevention service and insurance burglary surveys, and to provide more precise assessments of buildings as burglary risks. 20 references.