Investigative Solutions for your private investigator to try.

POSSIBLE INVESTIGATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR HIGH-EXPOSURE & CHALLENGING CLAIMS.
by, Keith L. Walker, Massachusetts Private Investigator

I’ve been a private investigator in Massachusetts for many years and have been specializing in insurance claim investigations since 1990.
Please note that I am not an attorney, and that this article be regarded as legal advice. In all matters pertaining to appropriate investigative conduct, please confer with your legal counsel to be sure that you are not breaking any laws.

Like most insurers, you have your share of high-exposure and challenging claims. You may be are anxious to have investigative results that can mitigate the claim, and your superiors are also anxious to “get results”.
Or, at least, reduce the exposure.

Many of my clients are having the same difficulty because their claims investigators aren’t getting the information they need in order for their clients to take action on their “problem claims”.

This happens in many cases and there may be several explanations:
Perhaps the claimant is being careful.
Perhaps the claimant resides an area where the logistics present investigative challenges for a private investigator to conduct surveillance.
Perhaps your claimant is alert and aware of the likelihood that he is being watched.

If your investigator is coming up empty, maybe it’s time to try a different investigator.
Or, maybe its time to try some new tactics.

Luckily, it often takes just one significant finding to turn the investigation around.

Here are some things you might want your investigator to try, in order to get the results you need:

Conduct surveillance on successive days. If there is significant activity on the first day, then video on the following day will deprive the claimant from using the age-old defense, “I felt strong when you see me in the video, but the next day I was in pain…”.
Let your private investigator conduct for-fee database searches.
For under $100, the search can provide previous addresses; names/address (present and past) of relatives or significant others (and their past addresses); names of those who may have lived with the subject; property ownership; bankruptcies, liens, judgments, civil/criminal, small claims a actions, vehicle registrations, boat ownership, and a lot more.
Search local court records and court records in the counties the subject has previously lived in.
Schedule a surveillance to coincide with the subject’s birthday/anniversary…or that of a significant other.
Because people tend to spend their birthdays with those with whom they are closest, it stands to reason that it would be a good window of opportunity to conduct a surveillance.
However, there is more information that can be inferred by conducting surveillance in this manner:

There are three probable outcomes:
a) Subject stays home; no one visits. Perhaps the subject doesn’t care, is a loner, or is actually injured.
b) Subject stays home; has company. These people are, most likely, the closest friends and relatives. Writing down the tag numbers of those vehicles present can result in having a list of the subject’s closest friends and relatives.
c) Subject goes to an unknown residence. Again, note the vehicles tags on all vehicles in the vicinity, and they may all be the claimant’s friends.
If the claimant had worked 2nd or 3rd shift, have your private investigator conduct surveillance to coincide with those waking/sleeping hours. They may keep the same schedule, even though they are not working.
It has been my experience that people under 30 would be more likely to “party” on a Friday night, whereas people over 30 are likely to have exhausted their energy and wait until Saturday night.
Request the employer check the employees job application for the following information:
a) “In case of emergency please notify...”. Generally, you’ll find the person most trusted by the claimant, if not the closest person.
b) References listed. An employer who also was a reference may potentially be the person who hires your claimant “under-the-table”.
c) Memberships, organizations, hobbies, sports, affiliations, awards and anything else that might provide additional insight into the subject. Anything listed here will give your private investigator some avenues worth exploring.
Conduct a series of spot checks of the subject residence on various days, at various times. Note whether or not the subject (or other significant individuals) are present. Over time, a pattern may be established. For example, you may note that the subject’s vehicle is never home on Thursday evenings.
A thorough internet and newspaper search should be conducted, if it hasn’t been done already. Obituaries are full of information that identifies family members, and frequently, the towns in which they live. Arrests, marriage announcements (the best men/bridesmaids are probably the claimant’s best friend), and other mentions of the claimant may help predict future activity.
A search of court records (criminal/civil/housing/probate/divorce) can yield a lot of significant information about the subject’s past, his/her associates, habits and special interests. Even financial information can be found in the files.
“Dumpster-diving” should also be considered. Retrieving the claimant’s trash for subsequent perusal can yield phone bills, credit card receipts, letters and a wide variety of helpful documentation.
Or an very foul-smelling mess of no value whatsoever. Still, it’s well worth an investigators time to do this.
Currently, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts considers discarded trash left on public property for municipal cleanup, as fair game for investigators because those who have discarded it have given up the right to privacy, in regards to those items. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the state of New Hampshire has recently ruled against this practice, so please bear this in mind.
And…get a shredder, everyone!
If you’re positive that the claimant knows he/she is likely to be surveilled at his IME, you should still conduct surveillance, but use two different investigators. The claimant is likely to purposefully behave in a manner that might best be described as “symptom magnification”: Exaggerating their symptoms, knowing that they will be videotaped. The reason this is desirable is because any subsequent footage of the subject at moments when he is unaware, will show an even bigger disparity between how the subject really presents, and how he/she behaved at their medical exam. The bigger disparity, the more indicative of fraud.

Why a 2nd surveillance vehicle? Because the first one should make it look as though he’s trying to follow the claimant, but then get held up at a traffic light, for example. Once the claimant feels they have lost their “tail”, they may not notice the second investigator, and let their guard down.

Because of the high exposure, you may have to spend a little more for your investigations, but it will be a worthwhile investment.

Just one successful case can have a great impact on your financial bottom line.

Keith L. Walker is the owner/lead investigator for Discovery Services Investigations in Massachusetts since 1993.
Discovery Services Massachusetts investigator also covers all of MA, CT and RI.