Dean Hyde – A short biography

After a career in the London fire service was unexpectedly cut short Dean was offered an opportunity to become an investigator in 1998. After carrying out work for, and consulting with, Lawson-West, GT Claims, NAH, Lawcall Direct & Others Dean decided to develop a training course for investigators predominantly involved in the growing personal injury claims market.

Lin Hyde, Dean’s wife, was an Internal Verifier of NVQ's employed by Stafford College covering various Awarding Bodies and together they decided to pool resources in the development of a course and qualification. After a skeleton course was developed and trialled with Dean’s employees it was decided to extend the delivery into the public domain.

Between 2000 – 2005 Dean enrolled on a series of courses, some with “Investigation” in the title, which covered anything from investigation in the workplace through to road traffic collision and some legal courses dealing with specific areas of personal injury claims with such organisations as EEF, RoSPA, British Safety Council, APIL & CLT & one particular training company in 2001 which will remain nameless due to ongoing legal issues.

Dean’s aim in attending these courses was to carry out market research into what was currently offered and to establish the principles behind a course which would encompass an eclectic mix of genres and not a single genre, as was being offered by the majority of training providers.

After paying for and attending one course in particular Dean soon felt that some sharp practices were being operated in misrepresentation of course fees and areas of expertise. Dean paid a nominal fee for training by a provider who operated from what was a private flat above a parade of shops, only to discover on attending the course that the initial fee did not cover the entire course and that additional fees applied in order to complete the training, receive course materials and certification. For instance, the training was delivered orally by the principal of the company and candidates were encouraged not to take notes as a “comprehensive” set of notes would be provided at the end of the course. These notes were eventually provided (see attached) for which he had to pay £47 extra. In contrast the Cert IFCI manuals (5 in total) comprise over 400 pages, plus additional industry publications, are included within the course fee.

Dean was so incensed by the practices of this training company that he and 2 other candidates on the course initiated an action group for the recovery of the course fees. It was during this action that several other anomalies came to light; in particular that the company had not been training investigators for as long as they had claimed and prior to 2000 they had been training driving instructors. Indeed, driver training is still indicated in their logo today.

The trio were unsuccessful in recovering their course fees as the legal costs were prohibitive and Dean informed the principal of the course that his own training company would always maintain transparency in course fees and ensure that all candidates would be informed of any applicable fees well in advance.

For more than 10 years the company alluded to have taken every opportunity to discredit both Dean & Lin Hyde and in some instances has resorted to the most unprofessional and distressing tactics.

Dean is, and has been, involved in running several different companies – he is a dynamic individual who rises to new challenges and opportunities. As new disciplines and industry opportunities present themselves those companies have had to be dynamic also. Over the years the training has developed to include not just personal injury but insurance claims as well as fraud identification. Who knows what the future holds for this sector?

Sadly, more recently as a result of the recession and the actions of an ex-business partner Dean was left with no option but to dissolve all companies with which this former partner was associated and start over, all current and previous candidates were supported during the transition in order to complete the training and qualification with no extra costs incurred.

Both Dean & Lin lead separate professional lives, Lin with the development of her company, Awarding Body For Vocational Achievement Ltd, developing qualifications in the private and public sectors and Dean with the development of the Association of Incident, Fraud & Claims Investigators as a dedicated support mechanism for the professional development of investigators.

For professional reasons both Dean & Lin have been reluctant to publicly announce their dealings with the training company alluded to earlier as they do not wish to air “dirty laundry in public”. However due to the recent escalation in the said company’s unscrupulous activities, not least approaching current and ex-candidates of Amalgam and using them to bring into question Dean’s, Lin’s and Amalgam’s integrity the time has arrived to set the record straight.

Dean has chosen for the first time in more than 10 years to let the fractious relationship between himself and the training company alluded too, to be known publicly not only to protect his own integrity but also that of his wife, Lin, who has worked extremely hard to build her company as an Ofqual regulated Awarding Organisation and develop industry specific qualifications which aid the professional and personal development of many individuals.

Dean Hyde is the author of many courses, some jointly with Lin Hyde, Kevin Paul & Duncan Mcleay. All of the courses delivered by AIFCI Amalgam8 Ltd (or its predecessors) are, jointly or severally, over time the work of Dean, Lin, Kevin and Duncan with input from employees. Naturally, when dealing with specific industries there will be an overlap of information provided amongst training providers which is in the public domain.

Dean Hyde is an open book and operates an open door policy for both prospective candidates and existing investigators.

Amalgam8 Training has transparency in course fees, provides a national qualification at Level 4 and, additionally, provides a mechanism for post course support, the fee for which is incorporated within our literature.

If you would like to read more about Dean's experiences since starting out as an investigator in 1998 click here