As a professional private investigative agency, we work very hard to provide our clients with the maximum value on each case. Most would agree that every private investigator wants to do that, but the real question is, what do they actually do that produces a better result than the next PI?
The best way to answer that question is to pull back the curtain and see who is really doing the work. In Michigan and anywhere else in the country, the answer is usually hiring the cheapest possible labor to work on your case. Really? Yes, this is the business model of almost every large agency serving the insurance industry. Hire someone willing to work for peanuts, who usually has very little experience and is not necessarily employable in many other fields and, abracadabra, you have a surveillance investigator. Now this is only true when the private investigator actually employs the person they gave the case to. In many instances, perhaps even the majority of the time, the private investigator you hired subcontracted your work out to the cheapest PI she/he could find. (Notice the recurring theme of price being the only real factor?) So essentially you hired someone who then hired the guy you would not touch with a ten foot poll.
Cheapness also prevents things like training. On a side note, there is no formal education to become a field surveillance investigator, let alone a good background investigator, so the best agencies have to create internal training programs. This costs money, most PIs don’t spend money on training.
Surveillance execution is only a small part of adding real value. Much of the real value comes from pre-surveillance planning, which requires the private investigator to be good at profiling and data mining, and also cost money to do well. 9 out of 10 times, this goes by the way side and surveillance becomes a fishing expedition. Good luck required to add value.
Lastly, knowledge of how insurance claims work, how plaintiff’s present claims and how the finders of facts will review same. This is relatively high level thinking for the average PI and rarely is part of the offering.
When true investigative excellence is needed on an insurance claim, consider calling the experts at Sherlock Investigations. The consultation is free and the advice exceptional.