There are lots of insurance claims made every year that result in millions of dollars of payouts from insurance companies to clients. One of the most common types of cases is workers’ compensation (workers’ comp). These cases deal with people who claim to have been injured at work and can no longer perform normal daily tasks due to the injury. Compensation for these claims can cover medical expenses, wages for time lost at work, and continued benefits for the claimants, like health insurance.
Insurance companies are required to compensate claimants, and one of the first things they do is verify the claim. If a person states that they are not working due to an injury and they request compensation for wages, the agent will sometimes hire a professional private investigator to investigate this claim. If you find yourself in the midst of a workers’ comp case, whether as an insurance agent or as a claimant, keep reading for some common myths about criminal defense investigators and if there’s any truth behind them.
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Myth #1: Anyone can call themselves a criminal defense investigator. False. Criminal investigator requirements for education and training are stringent, and investigators are knowledgeable about conducting investigations while obeying all laws. If you hire a private detective, you should check that they are licensed by the state. Official state licensing is one of the criminal investigator requirements for anyone who wants to have a career as a professional detective.
Myth #2: It’s easy to be a private detective. False. It’s important that the detective be highly skilled because they are tasked with gathering information while remaining undetected by their targets. If they are caught by the people they’re investigating, it can cause a lot of problems for their clients, so they need to be secretive about their work. It takes hard work to keep their investigation concealed from others who might be suspicious.
Myth #3: Private investigators use modern, cutting edge technology to uncover the truth. TRUE! A detective can set up surveillance and may even create a whole camera network to get to the bottom of a claim. Anyone who makes a claim to an insurance company should be prepared to verify their condition and should be aware that their statements may be confirmed with surveillance. Detectives aren’t required to notify those they are observing in their investigation, so it’s best to tell the truth if you submit a workers’ comp claim.
Myth #4: Information gathered by private investigators can’t be used in court. False. Criminal investigator requirements for investigations are closely tied to the law, and as long as all of the information is gathered legally, it will be treated as factual evidence to support a claim in court. An investigator working for an insurance agency may look into someone who is requesting compensation for wages for time lost at work to an injury. If they are observed working, the detective will bring this information to their client and they can use it to legally refuse the claim.
Myth #5: Hiring a private investigator is a last resort option. False. Insurance companies regularly use private investigators to look into claims because they want to verify that the claimant is being honest. Insurance agents want to protect against paying out money or providing benefits for fraudulent claims, and using a professional investigator is the best way to find out the truth. More on this.
