What is an activity check?
An activity check is observation of a claimant in public places over set periods, recorded on video with a time-stamped log. Adjusters also call it insurance claim surveillance or workers' compensation surveillance. The method is lawful surveillance.
| Can show | Cannot show |
|---|---|
| Errands, work activity and recreation in public | Anything inside a home or another private place |
| Lifting or driving seen from a public place | A medical condition |
| Whether the claimant lives at the reported address | What the claimant intends |
A claimant's public social media can be captured as well, with the date, time and web address of each capture. That is public online research: no friend or follow requests to private accounts, and no fake profiles.
Daniel is the only investigator and works every period personally. With one investigator, a long drive or a rural road can mean a repeat day. Some periods show no activity. That is a normal result, and the report records it.
Who asks for a claim investigation?
Workers' compensation and liability adjusters, third-party administrators and insurers' special investigations staff. Self-insured and small employers with a workers' compensation claim. Insurance defense attorneys.
The first conversation starts with a conflict check on the claimant, the employer, the carrier and the attorneys involved. Daniel is based in Oklahoma City and travels to claims anywhere in Oklahoma.
The report goes to the client and to the counsel the client names. Fuller Investigations does not confirm or discuss whether anyone is or was a client.
What is lawful in Oklahoma, and who decides whether a claim is fraudulent?
No investigator decides that. Oklahoma law defines workers' compensation fraud, and the Workers' Compensation Commission, the Attorney General and prosecutors act on it. Daniel reports what was seen and works inside these lines.
Under Oklahoma's Administrative Workers' Compensation Act, a material false statement or concealment made to obtain or increase benefits, or to obtain coverage, is a felony. The statute covers any person or entity, employers included. 85A O.S. § 6(A)
Failing to report earned income while receiving temporary total disability benefits is a separate felony. 85A O.S. § 6(C)
The chair of the Commission or the Attorney General refers violations to prosecutors, and the Attorney General's Workers' Compensation Fraud Investigation Unit investigates them. 85A O.S. § 6(D), (E)
Daniel documents what a claimant does in public and leaves every conclusion to the client and those authorities.
Secretly watching someone at a home or another place where they expect privacy, or secretly photographing them there, can be a crime. 21 O.S. § 1171
Daniel does not film into homes or other private places.
Willfully entering someone's yard, garden, pasture or field after being told not to, or without the owner's permission, is an offense in Oklahoma. The statute has no exception for investigators. 21 O.S. § 1835
Daniel does not enter property without permission.
Oklahoma's stalking law treats tracking a person's location with a GPS or other monitoring device, without that person's consent, as "following", with narrow exceptions. 21 O.S. § 1173
Daniel does not track a claimant's vehicle.
CLEET, the Oklahoma agency that licenses private investigators, can discipline a licensee who practices fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. OAC 390:35-9-5
Daniel does not contact a claimant under a pretext.
Nothing on this site is legal advice. Ask your attorney how the law applies to your situation.
What will the report and video include?
- A written report with the start and stop time, the place, the weather and the vantage point for each period.
- How the claimant was identified: a photograph match, a vehicle or an address.
- Video and photographs taken from public places, each with its date and time.
- A time-stamped log that states plainly each period in which no activity was observed.
- The original video files, preserved.
- Daniel, available to testify about the work performed and what was observed.
The report states what was seen. It does not say what a claimant is medically able to do, and it does not call a claim false. Oklahoma law bars a licensed investigator from making a false report to a client (59 O.S. § 1750.8(B)).
What should an adjuster or employer have ready?
The first consultation is free, and work begins only after a written agreement is signed and a retainer is paid. How it works sets out the steps. For the first conversation, have ready:
- a photograph of the claimant;
- the claimant's address and vehicles;
- the work restrictions at issue;
- the claimant's known schedule;
- the results of any earlier surveillance.
What it costs depends mostly on the number of days and hours of surveillance. Mileage from Oklahoma City, records checks to confirm an address and vehicles, and report preparation add to it. The written agreement sets all of it out before work begins, and the cost guide explains each factor.
When should you call the police or 911 before an investigator?
If someone is in danger right now, call 911. Fuller Investigations is not an emergency service.
If a claimant or anyone else connected with a claim has threatened someone, call the police first. An activity check records what a person does in public. It does not protect anyone.
Daniel Fuller is a licensed private investigator, not a law enforcement officer.