Yes.

Most insurance providers and other clients are unfamiliar with all facets of private investigations and / or have been encouraged to develop unrealistic expectations.  Unfortuneately,  they are often disappointed yet have no other choice but to place complete faith in individual private investigators that operate in a generally un-regulated (standardized) industry.

The accreditation process is the only way to increase insurance providers and the consumer a comfort level regarding the professional abilities of private investigators.

No.

There is no legitimate reason why a private investigator should not make the effort. The NASCPI will assist them and if awarded accredited status, identifies them as a leader in the industry. If a private investigator chooses not to attempt accreditation, the logical question is why not. What standard(s) are they unable to comply with? And, if a private investigator is denied accreditation, there is good reason(s) and likely not someone you would / should trust you investigative needs to.

Yes.

Managing an insurance investigation is bewildering, requiring a variety of talents, interests, skills, experience, and monetary and legal considerations. Unlike other needs for private investigative services, insurance providers must control their investigations and those employed to assist with it since they are ultimately responsible for the end result. With so much at stake, insurance providers can ill-afford the risk of employing only semi-competent private investigators who are simply in the wrong business and should not be "licensed". The accreditation process helps minimizes the risks to insurance providers by affording them the opportunity to identify and exercise control over private investigators who are NASCPI accredited.

This happens for three reasons.

1) Insurance providers often do not understand the real workings of private investigations, sometimes aligning their perception of them with images of “P.I’s” characterized by Hollywood.

2) Insurance providers reasonably assume that if a private investigator is licensed by a regulatory authoruty, they are skilled experienced professionals with impecable personal and work ethics. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth. It is a fact that there are P.I's with criminal records and shady backgrounds including termination from police agencies for egregious violations yet use their "former police officer" status to gain your confidence.

3) Insurance providers rarely know who is actually providing investigative services for them. Who they know is the marketing representative who presents glowing accounts of their investigators experience and promises of superior service. When the results are less than expected, providers are left frustrated.