Social Media Used in Claims Investigations

Social media is used by over 67% of Americans, and insurance companies are utilizing this outlet as a tool during claims investigations. Homeowners or business owners are just as human as the rest of the population, so it’s no surprise that many of these policyholders are part of the growing 67%. When homeowners and business owners suffer an unfortunate loss and seek to file a claim, insurance companies respond by researching the claim in its entirety, and social media is not out of the question when they’re gathering their evidence.

Insurance companies seek to utilize all tools in their arsenal when policyholders file a claim, and social media is a public way for them to gain easily-accessible information that the policyholder has made freely available. Even if you haven’t posted anything since filing a claim, information you posted previously can still be used as leverage for insurance companies seeking to back up their stance. Anything that can be used to raise a red flag or deny or postpone your claim can be acquired easily by insurance adjustors who simply log on to these social media sites.

Consider that insurance adjusters don’t just ‘show up’ for examinations or recorded statements. It’s their job to gather all pertinent evidence beforehand, and this means that by the time you’re sitting down for a recorded statement, they’ve likely already done their research and combed through social media websites. Information that isn’t even directly correlated with the claim at hand can be used by insurance companies to help judge your character, and this can influence how quickly or slowly your claim is processed.

For instance, regardless of whether or not a claim is directly related to you personally, an insurance company can still judge you based on what you’ve posted on social media websites. Even if responsibility and liability seem utterly clear, that judgement of character can come back to impose on the swiftness (or lack thereof) of the processing of your insurance claim. Thus, it’s important to note the different types of information and/or posts that could be used by insurance companies that may not be directly related to your claim. For instance, posts and/or pictures with this type of information can be a wealth of information for your insurance provider:

• Life, home, risk location prior to your claim
• Condition of your property
• Companies who have serviced your property
• Purchases or inheritances of items
• Marital or financial troubles
• Extra spending (vacation photos, unnecessary items, etc)
• Check-Ins (indicating your habits and spending)
• Posted sale of property and/or items (even if you don’t actually sell the items)

Many of these posts are indicative of your spending habits which can be used as a way to gain insight into your financial situation. These insights can insinuate reasonings why you would file a claim beyond the claim reasonings themselves, and this insinuation is what will fuel the arguments by insurance companies. It’s a tactic that insurance companies utilize, especially when liability and responsibility are clear-cut.

So what can you do to combat this? Nobody expects a sudden loss, so it’s always best to take proactive measures into monitoring what you post on social media outlets at all times. Also, before you file a claim, be sure to understand the ‘research’ that your insurance company will do, and filter your old posts beforehand. Get involved in your claim, and do your part in ensuring that the insurance company has no reason to deny or postpone your claim.

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