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By Susan E. Clarke
The first insight into this issue’s Man Behind The Mystique comes from the telephone. When I call him, the secretary puts me through without first asking who is calling. Vincent Rapp, Vinnie to most, is an attainable man, one who takes the time to speak to whomever calls. Vinnie is the vice president with Erie Insurance and manages the corporate security department.
As is the case with many in our industry, Vinnie began his career as a police officer, spending ten years with the Erie (Pennsylvania) PD. Just two years into the job, however, his outlook on life was altered as he grappled with a suspect and took four pointblank bullets in the stomach and chest. Others, far less severely injured, have called it quits after such an encounter, but Vinnie with a new awareness and an altered sense of things important beat the odds and returned to the force after a full recovery. He also attained a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in criminal justice administration.
Part of his job entailed development of a planning and research department within the force. He also worked in internal affairs and criminal investigation. Because of his well-rounded law enforcement background, he was asked by a local college professor to assist in the review of applicants for a newly defined job as the security director of the Erie Insurance Group. “This professor was asked by Erie to help them locate someone for the job,” says Rapp, “and he thought I could help. This was the first I had heard about the job, and although I was not looking for a change in careers, one thing led to another, and here I am.”
During 1979 and 1980, his first two years at Erie, the time was spent working to determine the physical security needs for the complex. Once that was accomplished and a solid program was in place, his mind began to wander, looking for other areas to become involved in. Having an interest in the investigative process, Rapp began looking at claims and attempted to find out what the company did in response to suspected fraudulent claims.
“Most of the seminars at that time were in relation to arson, and it was then that I started to meet others involved in the fledgling fraud industry. There weren’t really many resources back then, and there was certainly no such thing as a cover-to-cover book on insurance fraud. It was a whole new field, and there was a massive amount of work to be done.”
He began to gather all of the information he could find, but in the early 1980s the available information was sketchy at best. When he spoke to the Erie claims people, he found that there was no structured fraud program of any sort in place. Each individual had his own ideas and each branch had a different approach to handling questionable claims. Claims personnel did the best they could with what they had but it was frustrating for them. Armed with that knowledge and further knowledge gained from other folks in the industry who shared concerns about insurance fraud, Rapp eventually brought up the ISS (Investigative Services Section) concept. “I didn’t want to use the word ‘special.’ When you’re starting out, I don’t like to call anything special until it’s proven to be special. That’s for someone else to say, not for you to say.”
The ISS is under the Corporate Security Department, answering directly to the office of the president, not via the claims department. “This structure allows us some autonomy,” offers Rapp, “We don’t feel pressured by claims relative to things that run their agenda. While we may have different philosophies, our missions are similar and we work exceptionally well together.”
He sees the ISS as a support group for the claims division. Rather than going outside and calling investigative companies, they can call on their own in-house experts.
When hiring, Rapp considers overall investigative experience. “Early on we had a pretty narrow focus and purposely looked for law enforcement backgrounds; however, after 14 years in the business, I’ve become much more comfortable expanding that view and will look at individuals who have other experiences.”
One of the targeted accomplishments for next year is to do some looking at medical investigations and see what specialties are needed to address serious problems in medical fraud, “We’re definitely widening our focus relative to background, realizing that there are many excellent people available who do not have a law enforcement background. I see the future investigator profile as having a combination of various disciplines, enabling us to be more successful in addressing fraud problems for industry.
As a founding member of the International Association of Special Investigation Units (IASIU) and the second president of the organization, Rapp has witnessed the phenomenal growth of the fraud fighting industry. “In the mid1980s, at a time we may have had 300 members, it was strictly word of mouth. The SIU concept was an idea whose time had come thanks to people like Bill Lundy of American Family Insurance Company. I consider Bill to be the principal architect of the SIU movement. The SIU stuck with me because it turned out to be a very appropriate description of the IASIU concept having in-house folks who had the knowledge and expertise to address and combat insurance fraud.”
“I think it was generally felt that companies lacked structure, organization, written policies and programs to address insurance fraud in an organized fashion. And as we sat around and shared stories of concern, relative to the frustrations and problems of dealing with insurance fraud, we discovered that the companies did have various resources folks who were expert investigators, many of whom came from law enforcement and we found there was no reason to limit that kind of expertise and experience to arson, which at that time was getting the most attention because it was a problem that management could relate to. Arson was the number one recognized fraud problem, but we also knew from working inside the industry that there were many many other kinds of crime problems in terms of property, workers’ compensation and medical fraud that we felt demanded attention.
“One of the resources that the industry had available in the1970s and 1980s was the ICPI. Early on, the ICPI was supposed to be the industry’s response to fraudulent claims: there was a one-way referral of information to this organization. It was good, but there was something seriously missing: that was the returning and sharing of information back to industry. The bottom line is that I believe the industry abdicated its responsibility, and we didn’t learn how to play the game. Years and years went by of farming out the insurance fraud cases to independent vendors and the industry didn’t learn what to do about it. Now, with the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), it’s a completely different story.
“When communication was only one-way, it led to frustrations. It forced us to talk about what alternatives we had available. We learned that we have folks available in-house and we learned how to fight as an industry. The SIU idea began to pick up steam in the early 1980s as we went from seminar to seminar and we found we were all thinking along the same lines. It was time to improve our lot. The industry needed to become more proactive and educate consumers.”
What do you want to say to the fraud fighting industry, we asked Rapp. He answered this way: “I think right is might. Even though it sounds simple, it can be very complicated. But as long as we’re doing things for the right reasons, we can be proud of what SIUs are doing for the greater good.
“Insurance fraud is a public policy problem and one which is not easily dealt with. We find really dedicated investigators who are working very hard to do a good job because they believe in what they are doing. Companies need to make sure the message from the top is that we’re doing this for the right reasons and not solely to improve the company’s place in the market. That will come if the job’s being done right.”
“As for the future, our industry’s use of forensics is woefully inadequate. There are many insurance fraud problems that can be solved by better understanding and utilization of forensics. I keep looking for investigative opportunities to bring in new technology. When investigators partner with science, it’s cold hard facts. We need to continue finding new and better ways to defeat insurance criminals.”
Surprisingly, Vinnie’s spare time is not spent on the golf course like that of so many of his counterparts. Instead, he climbs onto his 50-foot wooden boat the one he’s been restoring for ten years. And while he works, he sometimes thinks back to his days on the Erie PD and the four bullets that changed so much. “It enabled me to realize there were a number of other things in life and I wanted to be a part of a lot more of them.”
Some nice guys DO finish first.
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