Wheaton, Ill., Dec. 14, 2007—Property/casualty insurers are invited to participate in a special research study regarding the frequency and severity of claims for personal injury, such as libel, slander, and violation of privacy.

Carriers that provide personal injury claims data for the study will receive a report with the aggregate results, including actuarial analysis. Information and instructions for the voluntary data call are available in a Microsoft Word document, and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is provided for responding.

The study is sponsored by the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) a national advisory organization and statistical agent that develops policy forms and rating information used by more than 600 property/casualty insurers throughout the U.S. Participation is open to all P/C insurers, whether they are AAIS members or not.

The study seeks to determine how the frequency and severity of personal injury claims have been affected by growing use of e-mail, blogs, networking sites, and other forms of electronic communication; as well as by the growing incidence of "cyberbullying" and other offensive behaviors.

Because of advances in electronic communications, harmful comments can now be transmitted instantaneously to worldwide audiences. Some multi-million dollar judgments have been reported for offenses involving transmissions over the Internet.

"As an industry, we know there is more exposure for personal injury today than in years past," says Greg Jaynes, AAIS director of actuarial services. "We would like to determine how much.

"This study of personal injury claims experience is part of our larger ongoing efforts to monitor emerging exposures that have an impact on P/C coverage."

Any carrier that writes personal injury coverage can respond to the AAIS data call, whether it is a member of AAIS or not. Companies that provide data will receive a report with the aggregate results, plus analysis.