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Re: So no causes what do yall think.
Posted by:
J L Mazerat (IP Logged)
Date: November 02, 2021 11:06AM
I agree with you that is what they want, and I also agree that the insurance industry is the main source of income for the private investigation industry. What they want has nothing to do with science. What they look at is the cost to wanted result. You were right in that companies are trying to hide the number of undetermined, however the method of giving a better explanation is not hiding the fact.
If an investigation company believes it has a high percentage of undetermined fires, their action should be to identify the reason and not try to hid this fact. How many companies have a good quality review system and not just a rubber stamp? The reason I make this comment is based on my review of many of my competitor’s reports. I will see a name on the report showing it has been reviewed, but I find numerous missing facts. At times I find information in the photographs attached to the report that contradict the conclusion. I have seen where they are classifying the cause as being undetermined when in the text of the report there are facts suggesting a cause. Most of the time the investigator did not follow-up on these facts and just left them hanging. Not saying these facts being investigation would have allowed him to reach a conclusion, but one will never know.
Unbeknown to the original investigator, the companies are having third party investigators review these reports and report these findings. I would say this is becoming more of a determent than the undetermined cause. Think of the insurance adjuster seeing the undetermined cause and then being told it was not a complete investigation. After it happens once, then all other undetermined finds become suspect.
I believe using the classification system has caused more harm that good in both the public and private sector. Let’s face it, classification is nothing more than abstract. It is not a full explanation of the event.
Jim Mazerat
Forensic Investigations Group