Insurance Fraud

Insurance fraud hurts us all is the sad refrain of insurance companies and while most people tend to view these companies as organizations which are largely unworthy of sympathy, it really does hit everyone in the pocket book, and not just the big insurance companies in the form of higher premiums and stricter guidelines.

Insurance fraud really exists everywhere insurance itself exists, after all, one usually needs to prove only harm or loss and they can get a cheque cut to them. The fraud types are varied across these spectrums, from the slip scam in the grocery store, to the rear end scam where someone is goaded into running into the rear of another car, to the workers insurance scam where a false claim of workplace injury is presented.

These examples are but a tiny tip of the iceberg, but they show the prevalence of them as we all know exactly how these scams work, yet they still persist and remain effective ways of scamming the system.

Largely it is the insurance company which will launch an investigation as it balances the need to find out what happened with the costs of litigation or settling. This is happening a bit more now days as the previous policies of settling rather than fighting claims in court has largely failed as the claims were not only paid out, but encouraged scammers to put in more claims as they knew they would not be challenged. Private individuals and companies have also begun doing their own investigations as well though, as organizations such as workers compensation, which are often government run or managed tend to be overloaded with cases and cannot respond effectively to all claims needing investigation.

When this occurs, Private Investigators (PIs) have always been the go to folks to look into these scams and present evidence as to the actual state of the individual making claims. Surveillance, history and interviews all come into the investigative process to give the interested parties the information needed to assess whether or not a false claim has been made, then pursue it in court.

Call a local PI today to find out what kind of services they can provide you!

Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca