According to the Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority, a Liberty Mutual insurance agent caught a public adjuster in the act of damaging a residence he was supposed to be representing. The home belonged to a couple who had reported storm damage and had hired the public adjuster to handle the claim for them.

The IFPA reported that the public adjuster and Liberty Mutual had made arrangements to meet on site to assess the property on Jan. 31, 2006. The Liberty Mutual agent arrived early for the meeting and waited in her car. While waiting, she noticed a man drive up to the house in a Jeep Cherokee, take out a step ladder and a crow bar, and begin removing siding from the garage.

The agent had a digital camera, which came in very handy for documenting this interesting event.

The IFPA's story on helpstopfraud.org, said that the agent contacted her supervisor, who arrived at the time scheduled for the meeting. Not surprisingly, the public adjuster showed up in the same Jeep Cherokee. During the meeting, he told the agent and her supervisor that there was siding damage to the garage and shingle damage to the home.

After being confronted with visual documentation, the adjuster later contacted Liberty Mutual and admitted that he removed the siding intentionally. He went on to say that he had never done anything like this in his life.

Right.

Interested in more fraud news and in-depth articles? Head over to Claims' fraud channel for more information.

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