The 2010-2011 NFL season has officially wrapped up, and playersnow have time to heal their bodies from the blunt forces andinjuries incurred throughout the season. These hits to the head,back, neck, and side are often exponentially harder than many autoaccidents, yet each year millions of dollars are paid out tocompensate people for even the slightest fender bender.

Having investigated auto accidentsfor a number of years, I'm often amazed to see people walk awayfrom totaled vehicles, rollovers, and head-on collisions with justa few bumps and bruises, while others claim injuries when there isno visible damage to their cars.

Is it fraud? Is it possible to be injured in an accident with no visibleproperty damage? The answer to both could be either yes, no,or depends. Most certainly insurance fraud is an issue that plaguesour society, costing the average family between $400and $700 dollars per year, according to the FBI.

Fraud comes in all shapes and sizes, from a staged accident to aperson claiming to be hurt when they really weren't. Accordingto the Insurance Research Council, more than onethird of all accidents involve claims for opportunisticfraud. Many of these claims involve low-impact accidents.

So what is an insurer to do when a person files a claim forinjuries, yet there is little-to-no property damage? Exactly whatshould be done with any claim: Investigate, investigate,investigate.

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The very fundamentals of a proper claims investigation aredriven by simple blocking and tackling maneuvers that will drivequality and results. A cornerstone of an investigation must includephotos and measurements of both vehicles, as it is possible to havesignificant damage to one car and virtually none to the other. Forexample, a Ford Focus that rear-ended a full-size Chevy pickupwould under ride the truck, resulting in extensive front-end damageto the Ford and virtually no rear-end damage to the Chevy.

Measurements are critical as well, as these can not onlyvalidate that the two cars indeed struck one another, but also canprovide a biomechanical engineer with critical data whendetermining velocity and resultant G-Forces exerted on theoccupants who are claiming injury.

Statements should be taken from all parties, including anywitnesses. Particular detail should be paid to not only theaccident but also any conversation or comments that may havefollowed, which can be indicators of opportunism. Consider thesituation in which the person claiming injury grabbed their neckand said, “I better call my lawyer.”

A thorough investigation will also include a detailedinvestigation into medical history. Did the party claiming to behurt have a history of claims? Have they been in multipleaccidents? Is there a pattern of claiming injury only whenthey aren't at fault? Were there pre-existing conditions orintervening circumstances? What was their pattern oftreatment? What was said to their medical provider?

By obtaining 10-20 years of medical history, either through avoluntary medical release or discovery, critical clues can beunearthed to either validate or refute what a party isclaiming.

Video surveillance, hospital checks in metropolitan areas of allknown prior residences, and canvassing of neighbors, co-workers,and especially ex-spouses also provides valuable insight intoclaims that may be presented.

Lastly, a biomechanical engineer can review your case, or even thevehicles, and provide an estimation of the speed at the time ofimpact and the likelihood of injuries based upon statisticallyvalid sampling of accident victims from similar situations.However, you should keep in mind that they will not be able to saywith 100 percent certainty that a person was or was not injured;they can only attest to the probability, which makes it that muchmore critical to meet the injured party and their attorney toassess credibility and witness potential.

Companies have adapted a wide variety of approaches toinvestigating low-impact claims, ranging from aggressively fightingthem to utilizing software applications to assist in gaugingvelocity and force on the occupants. The reality is that there isno one size fits all, as every case must be evaluated upon itsmerits, with all evidence being considered. While there isgenerally a correlation between force and injury, there areexceptions to the rule, albeit on rare occasions.

When implementing processes to maximize your internalefficiencies and accuracy of settlement, you should consider yourapproach to low-impact claims handling, with particular attentionpaid to steps that should be taken during the investigation.Handling these types of claims takes training, just like any otherclaim. When they are properly investigated, it can have asignificant impact on the bottom line.