Arson From the Insurer's Perspective

• NCJ Number: 140629
• Journal: Fire and Arson Investigator Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1992) Pages: 43-51
• Author(s): L H Gilbertson
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Training (Aid/Material)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Also published in the summer edition of the Canadian Independent Adjusters Association Quarterly.

Annotation

This article on fire-cause investigations is a combination of insights gained by the author as an insurance adjuster in the field of suspicious-fire claim investigations and of perspectives based on the author's experience as a defense lawyer for insurance companies who have been sued for failure to pay fire insurance claims based on the belief that the insured is attempting arson fraud.

Abstract

From the perspective of the insurance adjuster who undertakes a fire investigation on behalf of an insurer, there are certain indicators that establish the fire to be arson or raise this suspicion. The author provides a partial list of 24 such indicators. They include the presence of incendiary devices or materials; more than one point of origin or unconnected fires; the owner's recent purchase of or increase in insurance; prior or habitual fires; fires that occur shortly before insurance policy expiration; and fires that destroy obsolete, unsalable, or unusable property. From the perspective of the attorney who is defending an insurance company against failure to pay the insured based on attempted arson fraud, the author lists six categories of evidence helpful to the defense attorney in such a case. These include legible, detailed, and complete signed statements from named and unnamed insureds; statements from witnesses; photographs; reports from engineers, accountants, appraisers, etc., where appropriate; information from the first firefighters or police officers on the scene; information and official reports from the attending fire department and police department; and documentation such as corporate and property searches, deeds, mortgages, financial statements, real estate evaluations, and inventories before and after the fire. The author also indicates what facts must be proven by the insurer in the successful defense of the refusal to pay a claim based on attempted arson fraud. Court cases involving such successful defense are cited. 37 footnotes