(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)

(0:00 - 0:17) He spoke English, enough to get by, but something still felt off. I was sent to interview everyone in the home. I met with her, I met with her adult daughter, and then I was told I needed to go back to speak with the husband.

(0:18 - 0:27) That's when she stopped answering my calls. Weeks went by, still no response. So I tried something different.

(0:27 - 0:38) I reached out to her in her native language. That one move changed everything. What she told me next flipped the entire case.

(0:39 - 0:50) It wasn't just about a missing interview. This was about survival. This case was a powerful reminder that behind every claim is a real human story.

(0:50 - 1:09) And why keeping your personal and household information up to date isn't just about paperwork. It's about protection. In this episode, I talk about the hidden dangers of outdated family information in a claim, and what can happen when investigators unknowingly knock on the wrong door.

(1:30 - 1:51) Hello, and thank you for joining me for another episode of Top Priority Chronicles, where real investigations meet real impact. I'm Jamie Carr, a justice-driven investigator and advocate for truth, bringing you raw, true stories from the field. Stories of claims, conflict, and the critical choices that shape people's futures.

(1:52 - 2:27) Whether it's insurance, identity, or injustice, these cases reveal the power of what happens when the truth becomes our top priority. Thank you for joining today's episode, which is titled, Wrong Number, Right Instinct, When Safety Delays a Claim. The theme of this episode is to demonstrate how failure to update the insurance company on our personal details can often lead to delayed claims, and sometimes potentially jeopardize the safety of the claimant.

(2:27 - 2:50) This case started off like most other cases. I made contact with the claimant, who was a Hispanic female, where Spanish was her native language. She did speak English, she spoke English very well, and we seemed to be able to effectively communicate over the phone.

(2:51 - 3:21) I was able to meet with her, or actually call over the phone, schedule a meeting, also meet with her adult daughter, collect recorded statements as requested from the insurance company, which was to receive recorded statements from each adult family member. So I received a statement from the adult daughter and the mother. In my opinion, the request was completed, and I sent the information back to the insurance company.

(3:21 - 3:47) Shortly thereafter, a couple days, could have been a week, the insurance case manager reached out to me and asked that I reach out and collect a statement of the husband. Insurance case manager said there's a husband listed on the insurance policy. So then I contacted the policyholder to request and requested to meet with her husband to collect a recorded statement.

(3:48 - 4:06) This time, the claimant never responded. She never responded to my texts, she never responded to any of my callbacks. And I thought that was strange because she was very receptive and very responsive our first time around, collecting the statement from her and from her daughter.

(4:08 - 4:23) So just because that didn't sit well with me, she didn't seem like the type to kind of blow off this claim since she initiated. And I know that I believe it was for a stolen car. So I know that she needed her car replaced.

(4:24 - 4:49) So something just prompted me to utilize a an app that I had just received to reach out to her and text in Spanish. And so that's what I did. I ended up reaching out by text in Spanish to ask to inform her that their holdup was I needed to get a recorded statement from her husband.

(4:50 - 5:07) She replied that her and her husband were separated. They no longer live together. And as a matter of fact, she did not want her husband to know about this claim because there were concerns about him knowing where she lived and concerns about her safety.

(5:07 - 5:31) And that just really, first off, triggered me for my own personal reasons. But it also prompted working in the field of domestic violence. I remember there's a need to do safety planning when it comes to having to release the information of a person who may have safety concerns such as she did.

(5:31 - 5:55) So what I what I did was took as much information as she'd give about the relationship. I reached out to the case manager and let them know the situation. And sometimes what that really takes is for me now to become an advocate for the claimant to the insurance company to let them know that her family composition has since changed.

(5:55 - 6:11) The husband is no longer a person that is active on her insurance policy and therefore should not be listed. But she didn't know to call and take him off her policy. And that, you know, contacting him would be hazardous to the health of her and her family.

(6:12 - 6:46) Should the insurance company contact the husband and inform her of where she was or of the insurance claim. Therefore, I made sure the insurance company had this information so they did not make moves that or at least enlist me to make to try to pay me to make moves that will put this family in danger. So a key takeaway for me walking away from this case was that when someone who has initiated a claim starts to avoid me, the investigator.

(6:46 - 7:24) That first off, I don't take it personal and I don't think it's about me ever. And then second of all, I start to making sure that I'm exhausting all possibilities of making, especially if there is a culture difference. That I honor the the claimants native culture and language and do my best to try to bridge the gap of communication and culture by trying to communicate in their native language to make sure that the misunderstanding is not on their side.

(7:26 - 7:51) So in that case, I believe that it was it was clear that she didn't understand that she needed to have her husband respond. I think she thought that we had made a mistake on our end. And so this case is really about, you know, I mean, this episode was just to remind us all that we all have insurance, whether it be car insurance, life insurance, any kind of property insurance, business insurance.

(7:51 - 8:42) And whenever you're making a change, a household composition size, if you move, make any changes in your building, you add more assets, you add, you know, a bigger equipment or you get rid of something. But whatever changes that you make to your business, to your home, to your insurance, you know, your vehicles, you make sure you make those reports, you update those reports to the insurance company, because making the insurance company not having your updated information could very well lead to a delayed claim. You know, the insurance company wanting us to contact someone based on they're listed on the policy, but because they no longer live there, we're still needing information from them to move forward with the claim.

(8:42 - 8:59) And if they are no longer in the household, that information is not needed. But the insurance company does not know that if you don't share. So it's imperative that if, especially for families, because it's not just women, there's also men that have left abusive relationships.

(8:59 - 9:36) And for anyone leaving an abusive relationship, if you're filing an insurance claim, it's imperative that if you've had any changes to your household composition, that you report those changes to the insurance company, not at the time of the claim, but to your original, the place that you have your insurance with. So they update not only the claim, but they also update the insurance carrier. So they're not trying to update or contact people that could very well be dangerous for them to know where you are.

(9:38 - 10:11) So a lot of the times insurance companies may not have a trauma informed lens or approach to dealing with sensitive matters or vulnerable family situations. And so therefore, I just want to encourage insurance claimants or whatever position that you play to not ever be afraid to be sure that you get your needs met. Because not reporting that information could very well not only lead to delayed claims, but it could also lead to a denied claim.

(10:11 - 10:57) Especially if they have to receive information from a spouse that does not have your best interest or may have resentments against you, and they may report wrong or fraudulent information, they could have bearings on your claim. So again, my whole purpose behind making this podcast is to educate and to share the wisdom that I gleaned from this field. So take it as much as it can be a support to you and your family, share it, and just know if you ever file an insurance claim, you want to make sure they have updated information so that's not something that's holding up or causing complications within your claim.

(10:58 - 11:29) So thanks for listening to Top Priority Chronicles. If this episode gave you insight, share it with someone who needs to hear it, or share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, or just share it on your social media timeline just to be a support to the podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, and hit that like and subscribe button on YouTube to support the mission of truth, justice, and clarity, one story at a time.

(11:29 - 11:36) Until next time, stay sharp, stay aware, and keep your priorities top.

(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)