Auto Insurance Claims: my car was stolen, full coverage insurance, special investigative unit

Question
QUESTION: Hi I seriously need help! I have never been through this situation before, I filed a claim with my insurance company(state farm) in February because i took my car to the chevrolet dealership to get it repaird 6 hours after picking it up it caught on fire on the interstate with me and the kidsin the car i was able to get to the exit and pull over state farm settled with me but they went after the dealership because their adjusters say the fire started from what I got repaired (wiring harness) ok I purchased another car wit the settlement money about 1 month ago last week this car got stolen while we were at six flags I called the police they came out and did a report I called state farm they gave me a claim number I dont live in Georgia so they had to reassign me a claim adjuster I have had 2 adjusters assiged to me and yesterday another lady called and said she is with the special investigative unit and she is my new adjuster and I was like what is that for and she said because your car was stolen but I know people who have had their car stolen and they didnt havea special investigative unit so this is new to me and if you could tell me what this unit is?, what it means? and what I need to do?because lookin on the internet it says it has to do with fraud or something or tem trying not to pay and my other question is if I have full coverage insurance and my car is not found or is found but damaged can they not pay the claim?

ANSWER: Hi Ree,
Something about the circumstances of this claim raised a "red flag", causing State Farm to assign it to the SIU for fraud investigation.

This means they have about 60 days to thoroughly investigate this claim, including having you give depositions under oath to their attorneys in front of a court reporter and probably a camera to record the entire Proceedings.  All of your answers can later be used against you in court.

All this may 'blow away' in a few weeks or State Farm may decide to push to the limit.

If you receive a summons to appear and give a deposition under oath or an "EUO" (explanation under oath), this is not something that you want to take lightly.  Should you receive such a summons, you should immediately hire an attorney to listen to your side of the story and accompany you to the deposition so he can advise you which questions that you must answer and which ones not to answer.

I hope this information is helpful.  Please write again if you feel that I can be of more assistance.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Do you think it was because I filed 2 claims in a 3 month period.

Answer
Hi Ree,
In my opinion, it's directly related to the circumstances surrounding the theft.
Two unrelated claims would not cause such an investigation, especially since the first on was the fault of the repair shop.

As I said earlier, this may easily 'go away' in a few weeks, but if it doesn't, be prepared to hire an attorney.

Good luck,
Bennie