Filing an insurance claim for loss or damages seems straightforward enough. You experience an incident, report it to your insurer, provide documentation to support your claim, and collect payment to cover your costs, right?
For some claims, it is that simple. But insurance companies don’t just take every claimant’s word for what happened. The stakes are too high. Insurers enlist armies of private investigators to uncover fraud and ensure claims are valid.
As a policyholder, you might interact with a private investigator without even realizing it. So what exactly does the PI’s investigating process entail? Let’s examine standard practices for vetting claims.
Common Red Flags That Trigger Investigations
Insurers watch for specific red flags that suggest potential fraud or inflated claims. Some common triggers include:
Suspicious timing – Filing a claim right after taking out a new policy or increasing coverage can raise eyebrows. The timing may indicate premeditation rather than an unlucky accident.
History of claims – If you file multiple claims in a short period of time, especially for incidents that seem unlikely to keep recurring, the insurer will take notice.
Inconsistencies – Any contradictions, missing details, or implausible facts in your account of the incident or in the documentation will spur further scrutiny.
Large payout requests – Excessive amounts invoiced for repairs, medical treatment, replacement items, additional living expenses, etc. can imply exaggerated costs.
Criminal or bankruptcy history – Background checks revealing financial crimes or suspicious legal/credit issues puts investigators on alert.
Initial Investigation Steps and Documents Review
Once the insurer deems a claim worthy of investigation, the PI swings into action. The first step is gathering all documentation about the policy, claim, and reported incident.
Relevant documents typically include:
Insurance policy contracts and any recent changes
Claim submission and description of incident
Police reports, if applicable
Invoices and estimates for repairs or replacements
Medical records, if personal injury is involved
Photographs and videos of damage
The PI thoroughly reviews the paperwork and notes any missing documents or inconsistencies. This provides a starting point for the investigation.
Verifying Damage and Valuations
A key component of most claims investigations involves inspecting the damage to independently validate it matches the circumstances reported. For a homeowner’s claim, the investigator may visit the home to document and photograph the damage.
Some types of common checks include:
Estimating age of damage – This may reveal preexisting damage falsely attributed to the recent claim incident. The investigator looks for signs like weathering or mold growth.
Assessing cause and origin – The type of damage gets analyzed to confirm it aligns with the claimed cause like a lightning strike, fallen tree, flood, large appliance leak, etc.
Comparing valuations – Do the claimed costs for repairs, cleaning, replacements, etc. match market rates? Inflated vendor invoices submitted with the claim are a red flag.
Testing for fraud – For example, in suspected arson the PI might bring in a canine unit to detect ignitable liquids.
Documentation gathered during the inspection provides validation or refutation of the policyholder’s representations. The PI may also consult technical experts like engineers, medical professionals, and specialty vendors to fully evaluate the evidence.
Interviewing Witnesses and Other Parties
Along with examining documentation and physical evidence, investigators conduct interviews to look for holes or contradictions in the policyholder’s story. They may speak with:
The claimant – Asking follow-up questions about the circumstances and damage, especially anything that seemed ambiguous in the initial claim. Recording responses for consistency.
Eyewitnesses – Corroborating or refuting the claimant’s version of events.
First responders – Police, firefighters, EMTs who were on the scene may provide insights.
Neighbors and bystanders – Can confirm/deny facts like hearing an explosion, seeing smoke, observing suspicious vehicles, witnessing the policyholder removing items from a house before a fire, etc.
Vendors and contractors – Double-checking estimates and invoices match the work they actually intend to perform.
Doctors and other medical experts – Verifying injuries and treatments match the claim details for personal injury cases.
Surveillance to Catch Suspicious Behavior
One classic PI technique involves conducting surveillance on a claimant to observe their daily activities and movements for suspicious behavior. Surveillance is especially common in injury claims to catch claimants faking the severity of their disabilities. Investigators might surveil targets:
- At home
- At work
- Running mundane errands
- During medical exams and treatments
- While engaged in sports/hobbies
The goal is gathering video evidence of a claimant exerting capabilities beyond what they claimed to physicians or insurers. For example, someone who filed a claim for a severely debilitating back injury but gets caught lifting heavy boxes out of a store. Surveillance data gives insurers solid grounds to deny a bad faith claim.
Background Research Provides Context
Background research allows PIs to build a fuller profile of the policyholder and assemble contextual clues that may reveal motives. They dig into public records and proprietary databases for insights on a claimant’s:
Financial standing – Are they struggling with debts, foreclosures, bankruptcy, or lawsuits that indicate financial motive?
Employment history – Does the claimant have a steady job and income stream or do they change jobs a lot?
Criminal record – Any past insurance fraud or other financial crimes? Arrests for arson or false police reports?
Google trail – Social media posts, online comments, and other virtual breadcrumbs that may contradict details in the claim.
Claims history – Records of past claims with other insurers which may reveal patterns.
Presenting Findings and Recommendations
Once the investigation is complete, the PI analyzes their findings, assembles a report, and presents recommendations to the insurer about approving or denying the claim. Some factors in formulating recommendations may include:
Assessing credibility – Do interviews and evidence corroborate or conflict with the claimant’s account? Note any provable falsehoods.
Evaluating suspicious behavior – Like surveillance showing gross inconsistencies with claimed injuries.
Determining intent – Does the preponderance of evidence suggest a pattern of deliberate deception?
Documenting methodology – Clear documentation lends credibility to the investigation’s findings.
Comparing costs – Does validation of damages and valuations align with the claimed amounts or are they excessively inflated?
Weighing legal implications – How strong is the evidentiary basis for the recommended decision? How might the claimant react?
Impact on Policyholders and Claims Outcomes
As this overview illustrates, insurance companies take claimant investigations seriously. So what can policyholders do to avoid heightened scrutiny?
Provide complete, accurate information up front on the circumstances and damages. Getting caught in a lie is problematic, even if it was not a “major” false detail.
Keep thorough documentation like photographs before and after an incident to substantiate your narrative.
Cooperate fully with the insurer’s requests for records and interviews. Lack of cooperation raises red flags.
Avoid exaggerating or inflating costs on repair invoices, medical bills, etc. Stick to reasonable amounts.
Realize that many claims triggers like recent policy changes are not automatically disqualifying but they do warrant investigation.
Specialized Investigative Techniques for Different Claim Types
While investigations follow similar general processes, certain case types call for specialized techniques and areas of focus.
Auto Collision Claims
For vehicle damage from collisions or vandalism, additional investigation methods may include:
Reviewing any Event Data Recorders (EDR) or black box data to validate speed, braking, airbag deployment, and more details on impact
Analyzing paint transfers between vehicles to match up damage
Recreating and analyzing crash dynamics based on vehicle and scene evidence
Using software to detect photo tampering of damage images submitted
Identifying previous damage or repairs via paint gauge thickness measurements and imaging scans such as spectrometry
Workers’ Comp Claims
Work comp injuries require investigations focused on:
Verifying the injury happened specifically at work as claimed
Reviewing employment records to confirm reported work duties match those that could cause the injury
Working closely with the employer to gather documentation and personnel details
Conducting extensive surveillance as work comp fraud typically spikes on evenings, weekends, and holidays
Disability Claims
Surveillance plays a major role in disability claim investigations to document physical capabilities and activities. Additional techniques involve:
Researching medical records to verify reported extent of disability
Checking background databases for any professional licenses or certifications that require certain physical abilities
Covertly observing the claimant at medical exams to ensure consistency with claimed limitations
Using social media monitoring software to identify capabilities exhibited online
Life Insurance Claims
Unique investigation approaches for suspected fraudulent life insurance claims often focus on:
Obtaining doctor and coroner reports to confirm or dispute reported cause of death
Researching medical history for undisclosed preexisting conditions
Ordering forensic lab tests like toxicology screenings that may reveal undisclosed causes
Examining any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death
Reviewing signage of claimant’s handwriting on documents
Theft Claims
With theft claims, PIs pay attention to:
Any inconsistencies in descriptions of stolen items that may indicate exaggeration
Background checks to uncover related prior theft offenses
Reviewing police reports and any traceable stolen item numbers like electronics serial numbers
Interviewing pawn shop owners to check for recently fenced matching items
Homeowner Claims
Homeowner investigations center heavily on on-site inspections and surveillance. Additional techniques involve:
Interviewing neighbors about activity leading up to and immediately following reported incident
Documenting weather and conditions at time of loss to assess possible causes
Conducting forensic testing for accelerants in suspected arson
Hiring specialists like engineers to reconstruct failures and trace causes
Business Claims
For commercial policies, PIs work closely with business owners to gather:
Complete personnel records including any recently terminated employees
Transaction and inventory logs that may reveal relevant product shrinkage
Details on any changes in business processes and security protocols
Contracts with third-party vendors/services that may have access to assets
The nature of the incident guides the investigative plan.
Prospects for the Future
Digital photo and video forensic analysis – Better imaging software allows detecting manipulated or edited media submitted as evidence.
Drones – Providing aerial surveillance and property inspection capabilities for hard to access areas.
Predictive analytics – Insurers aggregate investigation data to reveal patterns, risk profiles, and fraud probabilities that guide enhanced claim screening.
Social media insights – Aggregators and listening tools comb through social content for fraud indicators like traveling despite disability claims.
Telematics and Internet of Things data – With more customer devices and daily activities generating digital records, the data provides verification of claims details. For instance, fitness trackers confirming activity levels.
Virtual assistant interviews – AI like chatbots can conduct initial claimant interviews to flag risks.
Final Thoughts
Investigations are an integral part of the insurance industry. Though sometimes portrayed as adversarial, they aim to protect the interests of both policyholders and insurers by reducing fraud’s burden on premiums and payouts.
Now you understand why claims trigger investigations, how insurers evaluate them, and the techniques PIs use to validate damages and uncover deception. While no one hopes for a situation that requires filing an insurance claim, arming yourself with knowledge on the claims process puts you in the best position for an optimal outcome.
Cooperate fully, provide thorough details and documentation, and demonstrate willingness to get qualified opinions supporting your position. With a transparent approach, you demonstrate good faith and can expect reasonable treatment in return. Insurance carriers have extensive experience separating legitimate claims from suspicious ones. Working collaboratively benefits all parties and enables getting life back on track after unexpected losses or injuries.
