When you file for disability, the insurance company will try to avoid paying you and delay approving your claim. Many times, they may use surveillance tactics to obtain evidence for a claim denial. Insurance companies often use surveillance tactics to disprove a disability claim, trying to uncovering evidence that will help give them a rationale for not paying you. The insurance company may hire a private investigator to take video or still pictures of you while you go about your life. This is intrusive, but if you are in a public location, it is likely legal. It should be illegal to follow you around and take pictures and videos of your actions, right? Unfortunately, however, courts have ruled that you do not have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” in public places.
The insurance company will document you outside your home at the store or doctor’s office. We are finding that most of our clients are being placed under surveillance by their disability carriers. This means that a private investigator may be hired to videotape your movements. You should be aware that this could occur and be very careful of what you do, especially outside of your house. Even such things as lifting a box (even if empty) might be used to disapprove your claim of lower back problems. We have even had occasions where clients have been sent to a physician for a medical examination by the insurance company and the private investigator has videotaped the trip to the doctor including walking into the office and leaving the office afterwards. The higher doctor is then asked by the insurance company to evaluate the video to determine whether it is consistent with the problems that the client has restricts work activities.
Insurance field representatives may visit your house and ask if they can speak with you inside. They will use the information that they obtain from these visits to support their surveillance tactics. These field representatives will investigate where you live, how long you can sit, how you stand and walk and assess your memory and concentration in the interview. We would strongly recommend that you not engage with an insurance field representative. You are not obligated to do so. If in our opinion, it might be helpful to your claim, we will arrange the interview in our office so that we can be present in guide you in the field representative through the interview. We are familiar with how insurance companies conduct surveillance and work to disprove claims. You should retain us to assist you in your claim. We can help you.