If you get into a car accident, then your insurer might file a surveillance report about you and the incident. This should always be done with the intent to get to the bottom of the truth, but it could catch anyone off-guard to have their story come under doubt. 

Thus, it’s important to know exactly what actions your insurer could take if you ever end up in a car accident.

1. They can check your social media

The more basic form of surveillance undertaken by insurance companies involves public records and even the claimant’s social media profiles. The insurers will monitor everything you post, and everything you are tagged in. 

Even if you never claimed to lose the ability to type out Tweets or take photos of yourself, frequently appearing happy on social media could suggest that any mental anguish you report after an accident is not genuine. 

For that reason, we would heavily suggest you keep your social media as private as possible.

2. They can directly, and legally, monitor you

Extended surveillance involves hiring investigators to monitor the claimant, again to see if they are as inhibited as they say, and to measure how their quality of life has been impacted. 

Simply being more active than expected can be turned against you; a good day where your back or arm does not hurt as much might produce evidence to reduce or deny your pay-out. 

A claimant must be informed when this surveillance is employed against them, and it usually takes the form of being spied upon from outside your own house or followed while driving.

3. It can be for any reason

The reasons given for undertaking surveillance can be based on pure suspicions, such as a claimant’s tone of voice, or even just the fact that it could be an expensive claim. 

At the end of the day, their main objective is to not pay a penny more than they have to. 

Wanting to stamp out fraud is definitely understandable, but even if you believe that your case is airtight and your injuries cannot be doubted, you still might find yourself as the subject of an investigation.

4. You might need a lawyer/solicitor

One insurance investigator reported that under 10% of the people they were following produced viable evidence for the company to use – the number of people trying to commit fraud will inevitably be lower than this, as the footage could be out of context. 

Even if we take video evidence as gospel, this means over 90% of people investigated were entirely innocent and well-meaning claimants, who were doubted due to the slightest superstition. 

For that reason, you will need a lawyer should you find yourself the subject of an investigation.

Bale Boshev Lawyers have been helping claimants get their compensation for the better part of four decades. 

If you find yourself the subject of an insurance investigation in Hamilton, East Maitland, or Belmont, then get in touch so that you can be sure your claim is given the respect that it deserves.