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Tips for Adjusters Attending Mediation

During this year’s Combined Claims Conference, James Curry, a seasoned mediator and former in-house insurance defense counsel located in California’s San Fernando Valley, provided tips to adjusters preparing for mediation. Knowing the claim’s strengths and weaknesses and researching all parties are factors that can increase mediation success.

Cargo Theft Trends and Investigation Tips

In an interview with Claims Journal, Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at CargoNet, points out the hotspots and states where cargo theft occurs most and provides tips for adjusters investigating cargo theft claims.

In an interview with Claims Journal, Daniel Johnston, executive director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts, discusses the fraud-fighting model implemented 10 years ago to reduce staged crashes in a number of Massachusetts cities and explains how investigative teams methodically busted over 1900 people involved these schemes.

Wis. Police Become More Aggressive With Redaction

People in Wisconsin who find themselves in car accidents, arrested or the victim of a crime are having an increasingly tougher time obtaining police reports, key documents that can prove crucial for making insurance claims and learning who has been arrested and for what.

Police say a federal appeals court ruling in an Illinois case last year concluded law enforcement agencies cannot release information gleaned through motor vehicle records, including names, addresses, gender and other personal details. More Wisconsin agencies are pulling out their redacting pens before they hand out anything in hopes of avoiding lawsuits.

It’s unclear exactly how many police departments across the state have adopted a redaction policy, but Sheboygan Falls Police Chief Steven Riffel said more agencies are doing it than not.

The 1994 Driver’s Privacy Protection Act requires states to obtain consent before they release a driver’s personal information. The federal law was passed after an actress was killed in 1989 by a stalker who found her address through Department of Motor Vehicle records.

City attorneys around the state have been advising police to haul out their redacting pens to make sure they’re not sued. And they’ve been following that advice. (Associated Press)

The story generated comments from readers. Read a few of the comments below:

Johannesburg Vera says:

If the police reports are redacted, they are of no value and the public shouldn’t have to pay officers to produce worthless products.

Adjuster says:

So what is an accident report for? Why even make it if the parties cannot identify one another and the officer’s investigation is “redacted”? May as well not even make a report, as it has no purpose.