Altering Documents to Benefit a Big Client

This happened some years ago, while I was working for an independent insurance agency. It started when the office manager of our biggest client sent me a note reporting that one of their employees had been in a traffic accident. This pencil scribble only had the name of the insured employee and the name of the other driver, so I called to get the rest of the required information. When I asked which of the employee’s trucks had been involved, I was told “the old one.” Since there were only two trucks covered by the policy, a 1988 and a 1993, I turned in the report identifying the 1988 as the vehicle involved.

My boss had an appointment with the client the next day, and he took the report with him. When he returned, he left me a voicemail message saying that I had filed the wrong information. The truck involved was the 1993, and it hadn’t been driven by the insured employee but by someone else.

I immediately understood. Because the other driver was at fault and the other company was going to pay, our client could collect more money by claiming damage to the newer truck. Since the insured employee already had a bad driving record, it was to our client’s advantage not to add another incident to that record.

I also understood why my boss had left a message instead of telling me in person to change the report. He was basically an ethical man who knew he was doing something wrong just to please a big client, and he was ashamed. I had no choice but to do as he ordered. After changing the report, though, I photocopied the original note and put it in his box to let him know that I wasn’t fooled.