A growing problem in the country these days concerns fraudulent insurance policies being sold to employers and consumers.

The Government Accountability Office found that from 2002 to 2004, 144 unlicensed insurance companies had left 200,000 policy holders holding the bag.

These scammers attracted people by setting premiums well below the market price and often paid initial claims, then ceased to pay subsequent ones after collecting additional premiums.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has set up a website to help you check out an offer. http://www.naic.org is a free web service that will link you to your state office to see if the company is licensed and show if there's a history of complaints against it.

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