Just the Facts- Private investigation celebrates 10 years of catching insurance cheats

Naperville IL June 3, 2004 -- George Oliver, president of Naperville-based Factual Photo, started the company 10 years ago. At the time, his wife, Heidi, quit her position as a schoolteacher to become his secretary. The two initially ran the business out of their basement.
In the past decade, Factual Photo has grown from just two to 100 employees in 33 states. The company handles about 7,800 cases annually and is an up in coming leader in the industry.

Oliver, 41, graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in law enforcement. He spent many years as an investigator before he started his company. The investigators he hires have similar backgrounds in law enforcement and in corrections, military service and insurance case management.

Factual Photo's clients are primarily insurance companies, third-party administrators. self-insured companies, railroads and defense firms.
"What we do is verify the validity of any type of disability claim, ranging from worker's compensation to general liability," Oliver said.
He said insurance companies generally have some type of fraud prevention program in place. One way of verifying whether someone has a legitimate claim is through surveillance.

The company uses digital camera equipment, which produces a broadcast-quality picture and utilize state-of the- art surveillance equipment to conceal a camera into most environments..

While the vast majority of all claims are legitimate, there is a small number of claims that need to be investigated. The insurance companies use red-flag indicators to determine which claims are likely candidates for further investigation.

The top three red flags are that the individual is never home when called; the accident was not witnessed and the injured person takes more time off than the injury warrants.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates that more than $5 billion annually is lost to insurance fraud.

Oliver said business continues to grow because fraud is on the rise. As the economy worsens, he said, the number of claims increases.
"Our company has grown about 20 percent a year over the last four years. We don't see the growth slowing down," he said.

A plaintiff's attorney once sarcastically asked Oliver, who was testifying during a trial, if he was proud of what he does.
"I don't do anything but document what we see," Oliver replied. "It's not up to me to be the judge and jury here. I just present the facts."
And that's how he decided on the name, Factual Photo. He said the company presents the facts by taking photos.

He credits the company's success to his staff, including Tim Kizorek of Naperville, who is vice president of marketing, and Kevin Woodall, vice president of operations.

"The real success story — the key thing — is bringing the right people together, working as a team, to achieve certain goals," he said. "That's the only thing I can be credited with."

He said there's no limit to how big the company can grow.
"The sky's the limit," he said. "Bigger is not always better, but if you have enough clients out there willing to invest in us, trust us to do their job, then we'll continue to grow."




This article courtesy of http://www.playstationandxbox.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Submit Your Article