A. Lee Graham Reporter Texas tops a newly released list showing that insurance claims resulting from hail-storm damage rose 84 percent from 2010 to 2012. According to the report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau, 467,602 hail damage claims were filed nationwide in 2010, increasing to 689,267 in 2011 and 861,597 in 2012. That’s an overall increase of 84 percent from 2010 to 2012. Recent years have seen the nation experience severe storms featuring high winds, tornados or hail occurring with more intensity and affecting more areas of the country. The new report focuses on insurance claims resulting from hail damage. More than 2 million hail damage claims were processed from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2012. In that time, the top five states generating hail damage claims were Texas (320,823 claims), Missouri (138,857), Kansas (126,490), Colorado (118,118) and Oklahoma (114,168). In 2010, 2011 and 2012, Texas was the state with the most hail storm events with 557, 741 and 795, respectively. The National Insurance Crime Bureau, based in Des Plaines, Ill., is a non-profit agency dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. More information is available at www.nicb.org. lgraham@bizpress.net