I’m Not the Enemy!

Earlier this year, I was asked to investigate the cause of failure of a hot water line fitting in a commercial establishment.  As most of you know, I am an engineer who performs forensic analysis on failed products.  It so happens that the guy that installed the failed part was insured by the company that hired me.  As soon as I called him to find out what work he had done, he got very defensive saying that I was hired by the insurance company to deny the claim.  This isn’t the first time that this has happened to me.  In fact, this is more like “par for the course”.  I understand that when people submit a claim to their insurance company, they are worried about whether the claim will be covered.  And when a technical expert shows up, that scares them even more.  I have learned over the course of my forensic career to be patient with people.  Sometimes, all it takes is a little give-and-take for the insured to feel more at ease.  By that, I mean as the insured expresses their thoughts, I listen and then explain why I am involved and what I will be doing.  At other times, the insured isn’t willing to listen or just won’t cooperate.  It is in these instances that I am viewed as the “enemy” and I’m the one “out to get them”.  In reality, I am usually tasked to provide an explanation of what happened to cause the damage or injury that occurred.  Remember, insurance adjusters are not experts in everything and as a result, have to hire people with expertise in areas other than their own.  But, there are those that just don’t or refuse to understand.  I know that it can be scary to have a stranger come to your door and ask a lot of questions but, there really is a purpose to the method.  Unfortunately, there are those that will attempt to commit fraud and as a result, make it harder on everyone else who is trying to do things honestly.  As it turned out, the insured that I was dealing with appeared to have been doing work outside of the scope of his insurance policy.