Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-12-13
PROBING THE CLAIMS
HOW STREET RAILROADS MEET DE-
MhNDS FOR DAMAGES.

MhNDS FOR DAMAGES.
Minute Examinations Made to Guard
Against Fraud-GeneraiIy Com
promise Results Instead of a Legal
Complication.
There is no more striking example of
fine and logical system than the claim
department Of a great street railroad cor
poration. Indeed it would be system
run mad were it not for the fact that
every link in the long chain of events
which binds an accident to a settlement
is, on the one hand, a safeguard to the
company against fraud and on the other,
an assurance to the honest claimant that
his case is receiving careful and search
ing investigation.
The number and variety of the de-
mands for damages made upon a street
railroad corporation are surprising, but
NO matter how trivial or how serious
complaint may be al! are treated exactly
alike and all are subject to the same rou-
tine, whether it be Giuseppe CapOnsac-
chi, whose pushcart has lost a wheel, or
the banker who has been thrown from
his carriage.
The claim department of one of the
largest street railroad corporations in the
country employs 20 men. Last year those
20 men investigated nearly 10000 claims
and paid damages amounting to $7OO,OOO.
an average of $50 a claim. The claim
department has to contend with every
sort of fraud, and it is partly to stamp
fraud as fraud that an intricate system
has been built up.
Two cases illustrating the desire of the
general public to do" railroad corpora
ton came up recently not 1000 miles
from New York. A servant girl who
suffered so badly that she couldn't an
nounce a visitors name without getting
tangled asked a street railroad company
for damages She said that a car started
suddenly and threw her TO the pavement
When she recovered from the shock she
found that she had an impediment in her
speech. 1t was proved to the satisfaction
of every one except the girl and her law
yer that she had suffered ever since she
began to talk.
In another instance a man who assert
ed that he had been permanently injured
in a collision sued the company for SO
600 damages. Two days before the trial
the company's attorney invited him to
compromise for S4,500. He declined.
When the case came to trial, the judge
dismissed ii on the victims own testi-
mony. These instances may be excep-
tions. If they are exceptions they prove
a rule which points to the necessity for
q careful and systematic investigation by
the claim department of every claim pre-
sented.
1t is interesting to trace the various
steps which lead up to a settlement. Sup
pose trolley car runs into u truck driv-
en- by John Doe of 100 East One Hun
dreth street. A wheel is knocked off the
truck and John Doe hits the pavement
with his head. The conductor and the
motorman Immediately jump from the
car. Allowing John Doe to shift for him.
self, they get the names and addresses of
as many witnesses of the accident as pos
sible. When they finish their run, they
fill out blanks, which are kept at each
depot.
Certain questions on each blank must
be answered-for example, the number
of the car the number of passengers
aboard at the time of the accident, wheth-
er night or day, whether an inspector was
present, the policeman present and his
always difficult to induce witnesses to
give their names, and they are likely to
hide behind fictitious names or the names
Of friends, practice which sometimes
leads to unpleasant complications.
The reports made by the motorman and
conductor with the names of the witness
es, are Immediately referred to the cen
tral office, where the case is turned over
L.. IL. l. l., l.
subordinateS out to see the witnesses. Iu
as many cases as possible signed state
ments Of the circumstances of the ucci-
dent are obtained. The reports of the
investigators and the wagon builder are
handed over to a force of typewriters,
who transcribe the written statements
and collocate them as Case No. $4,000
or whatever number ii may happen TO be.
The doctor who attended John Doe sends
to the company statement Of the eX-
tent of his patients injuries. and the
company's physician calls up the doctor
on the telephone to get his professional
opinion on Mr.. Does case. Then NO.
$4,000 goes to reader.
The duty of the reader is to examine
carefully the papers in the case as put
before him in the form of the reports
from the investigating department. He
is supposed to separate the salient points
from the mass of detail. He must report
the number of witnesses seen, how many
favor the company and how many favor
the truck and John Doe and whether in
his judgment the company is liable. Then
he turns over the case to the claim ad-
juster Up to this point the investigation
may have occupied two days or two
weeks.
The claim adjuster is lawyer, with a
lawyers insight into human nature and
a lawyers appreciation of the power OF
Mammon. He decides at just what
price the company should settle and sends
his men out to see John Doe and the
owner of the truck. If these last are
wise, they will sign receipts and accept
what the company sends. If they aren't,
the case will go to the courts. The price
set by the claim adjuster is likely to be
final. and discretion is generally the bet
ter part of vaior.
This, in brief. is the process through
which each of perhaps 10000 claims must
go. So thoroughly is the work done that
no claimant ever receives excessive dam
ages. He gets what he deserves and not
O cent more-New York Mail and EX-
press.