5044 Lapalco Boulevard Marrero, Louisana 70072 Phone: (504) 347-0098 Fax: (504) 347-3004 E-Mail: dsi@bellsouth.net

Investigative Services

Specializing in video surveillance involving property and casualty, workers compensation and disability, slip and falls, product liabilty, chemical exposure, Jones Act and longshoreman.

Ever had the feeling that someone is no telling you the truth?  Thus, making it impossible for you to make a sound business decision.  Deep South Investigations has the solution: Information!  Information is the key to staying in control of a situation.  When you have the proper information you have the ability to make informed decisions and to stay in control.

Deep South Investigations can provide information in a variety of forms, including, but not limited to video surveillance, asset and liability searches, record searches, etc.   Once you have the information you are placed in the superior position as you hold all the cards.

Insurance Fruad

One of the reasons information is essential today is due to the proliferation of insurance fraud.  Fraud is defined as a deception deliberately practiced to secure unfair or unlawful gain.  It has also been defined as the intentional misrepesentation of truth for the purpose of obtaining something of value by inducing another to rely upon false information.  Regardless of definition, the key elements of fraud are these: intent, misreprentation or untruth, the reliance on misrepresentation or untruth, and something obtained as a result.

Insurance Fraud is often classified as being either hard or soft.  hard fraud is usually a deliberate attempt either to stage or invent an accident, injury, theft, arson or other type of lass that would be covered under an insurance policy.  Sophisitcated conspiracies involving medical doctors, lawyers and their patients/clients are widespread and one of the most costly forms of insurance fraud in the United State.  A single crime ring can cost the insurance system millions of dollars a year.  Executives and employers within the insurance industry also commit hard fruad.  An employee may defraud an insuracne company by accepting bribes or kickbacks from body shops or doctors to verify false claims.  Another example is an insurance agent who fails to remit policyholder premiums to the insurance company.  The agent pockets the premiums and hopes the policyholder does not file a claim. Soft fraud, which sometimes is called opportunity fraud, occurs when a policyholder or claimant exaggerates a legitimate claim.   One example is the car owner involved in a fender-bender who inflates the claim to cover the policy deductible or the cost of the insurance premiums.

The latest study by Conning & Co., a research firm specializing in the insurance industry, suggests that the figure in 1995 was close to 120 billion in insurance fraud costs which was passed on to the average American taxpayer.  This figure represents a rise of 30 billion dolloars over the 1990 figure.  Of even greater significance is the small percentage of insuance fraud that is discoverd.  The approximate discovery rate is 20% for property and casualty, 10% for life and disability, and onl 1% for helath care.  In other words, only one of out of one hundred people who commit insurance fraud in regards to health care gets caught.  This is an utterly appalling statistic.   If it were a legitimate business, insurance fraud would be a top Fortune 500 company.  Moreover, these criminal activities are escalating.

Video Surveillance

One proven way to help cut down and even the odds is combating insurance fraud is throught he use of video surveillance.  This is a legal and cost effective tool, which can help the employer or claims handler improve their bottom line.  Deep South Investigations services include covertly observing and videotaping claimants and then comparing the claimants activities to their allegations of disability.

Deep South Investigations specializes in video surveillance.  As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."  When a request is made for video surveillance Deep South Investigations' home office conducts an initial three-step procedure to determine the claimant's identitiy, mode of transportation and residential locale.  Once completed the home office assigns the case to the field supervisor and one of our fully licensed investigators.  Depending on the circumstances an activity check may be made of the subject's residence and/or place of business.  This is done for several reasons, first, to verify the address is correct, second, to determine the best spost to position the surveillance vehicle and finally, to get a working knowledge of the immediate area, such as entrances and exits, etc.  Once the initial check is made video surveillance may begin.  Radio communication between the home office and every investigator is mandatory to hbring about the best end result.

Deep South Investigation uses the latest in video technology and requires that all video shot take place while the camera is on a fluid-head tripod.  The use of a fluid head tripod eliminates any jerkiness to themovement of the camera and provides for a nice, steady shot.  Additionally, the owner of Deep South Investigation, Mark Avery, trains all investigators in proper video surveillance techniques.  Proper video surveillance techniques includes proper operation of the camera, proper framing of the subject, proper positioning of the surveillance vehicle for optimum taping of the subject, as well as various tricks of the trade that have been learned over the years.

Deep South Ivnestigations, Inc. provides professional employees who are well groomed, neat in appearance and thoroughly trained in the art of deposition and trial testimony.   Why not give us a call and let one of our fully licensed investigators, who combined have over 59+ year's experience, help you gather the information you need to stay in control of your case.  Let us assist you in piecing your puzzle together.

Resons for Increases in Insurance Fraud

The causes and factors behind insruance fraud are varied and oftentimes complex:

Public Attitudes

Some Americans tolerate insurance fraud; mistakenly thinking it is a victimless crime.   A 1995 Roper study for the Insurance Research Council found that 24 percent of Americans fell it was acceptable to pad a claim to make up for premiums paid in previous years.

Some people justify fruad because they feel the insurance premiums they pay are unjust.

Insurer Claim Practices

Many insruance companies unwittingly promote fraud by paying suspicious claims rather than fighting them.  Insures sometimes reaon that it would be less expensive to pay a suspicious claim than to pay more in legal fees to fight them.  Many insurers also resist fighting suspected claims for fear of multi-million dollar "bad faith" lawsuits.

High-Risk Insurance

Mainline insurers sometimes are unwilling to provide high-risk insurance, making the marketplace susceptible to bogus insurance companies who come in to fill the void.

Medical Economics

Large numbers of uninsured and under-insured patients, combined with cost-conscious managed care programs, have reduced health care profits in some segments of the medical industry.  Some treatment facilities and health providers are tempted to make up the difference by inflating or fabricating claims of insured patients.

Insufficient Penalties

Insurance fraud is perceived as a high-reward, low risk proposition.  With overburdened prisions, jail sentences usually are infrequent and light.  Compared to trafficking in drugs, insruacne fraud is safer and more rewarding in most instances.   Additionally, doctors and lawyers are regulated by their peers through professional societies whose disciplinary systems provide little viable safeguards or remedies when members are caught or are suspected of defrauding.

Low Law Enforcement Priority

In many cases, law enforcement and prosecutors are giving top priority to reducing drugs and violence in society, thereby shifting manpower and other resources away from insurance fraud.