The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) revised its estimates Feb. 21 for the number of vehicles damaged as a result of Hurricane Sandy to 250,500 based on claims processed by insurance companies. New York's number increased to 150,000 from 130,000.Like this article? Sign up to receive our weekly news blasts here.

This is the complete list of states generating Sandy- related
vehicle damage claims in descending order:

New York - 150,000
New Jersey - 60,000
Connecticut - 8,000
Maryland - 5,500
Massachusetts - 5,000
Virginia - 4,500
Ohio - 4,000
Pennsylvania - 4,000
Delaware - 2,000
New Hampshire - 2,000
North Carolina - 1,500
District of Columbia - 1,000
Rhode Island - 1,000
West Virginia - 1,000
Maine - 500
Vermont - 500
Total - 250,500

These are preliminary figures and may change as additional claims are received and processed. Also, these are insured losses only. There are many uninsured vehicles that were damaged by Sandy and those numbers are not reflected in this information, NICB said. Moreover, there is no determination as to the extent of damage to these vehicles. They could have sustained minor paint scratches from flying debris, or have been under water for days and rendered total losses.

There could be many Sandy-damaged vehicles that are in the process of being reconditioned and sold to unsuspecting consumers nationwide. It is not illegal to buy or sell flood vehicles, or vehicles declared as salvage as long as the parties to the sale are aware of the vehicle's status. Consumers should be aware that severely damaged vehicles may appear advertised for sale without any indication that they were at all affected by Sandy. Buyers should be careful when considering a used vehicle purchase in the weeks and months following a disaster such as Sandy.

Consumers can download useful checklists and learn more about flood and salvage vehicle scams and post-disaster contractor repair schemes by visiting the NICB website here. Also, NICB's VINCheck allows free consumer access to the vehicle salvage records of participating NICB member insurance companies who collectively provide 88 percent of the auto insurance in force today.

NICB is the a not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,100 property and casualty insurance companies and self- insured organizations.

NICB member companies wrote over $319 billion in insurance premiums in 2010, or approximately 80 percent of the nation's property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 94 percent ($152 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance.

To learn more visit www.nicb.org.

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