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Social media can be key in claims investigations, but ethics critical


February 4, 2014   by Harmeet Singh, Online Editor


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Using social media can be critical for claims investigations, but keeping ethics top of mind is equally important, for both reputation and the success of a case, says one industry expert.

“Any good claims investigator, in addition to using that smartphone, will also include social media investigations in his claims investigating toolkit,” said Carol Kreiling, vice president and claims expert, reinsurance P&C, Canada claims team with Swiss Re.

Kreiling made her comments in Toronto on Tuesday during the joint conference of the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association and the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association’s Ontario chapters.

Canadians are more avid Facebook users than any other country in the world, and their use of Twitter is rising, she noted.

Using the information shared publicly through those social media sites, and others such as LinkedIn or photo sharing site Instagram, can be critical when investigating potentially fraudulent or exaggerated claims, she said.

However, the key there is “publicly.”

In order to be aligned with ethical guidelines, including those set out but the CIAA, investigators, lawyers and claims professionals must be forthcoming in how they use social media.

“Ethically speaking, it is perfectly okay for us to view a Facebook page of a claimant on the public settings. There is nothing wrong with that,” Kreiling said.

However, when it comes to taking the step to send a claimant a friend request (or other request to connect on a site), it’s important for claims adjusters to identify themselves as such, she noted.

“The bottom line here is, just don’t use deceit,” Kreiling said.

Investigators and lawyers also must ensure they aren’t neglecting their duty to preserve evidence, she said.

She pointed to one case in Virginia, where a plaintiff lawyer advised his client to remove a potentially damaging Facebook photo, when the defence team had already made a request for it in discovery.

In turn, the plaintiff has his reward from the court drastically reduced, and the plaintiff lawyer received personal sanctions.

There are, however, still ways for social media to be used effectively during a trial, Kreiling said.

Depending on the rules of the particular jurisdiction and court, it can be useful to Google jurors, she said. It can also be useful during a trial to ensure jurors aren’t breaking the rules of the court by using social media improperly (for example, tweeting from the court), she noted.

A juror’s online activity can even have an impact even if what they were involved with was prior to hearing the case, Kreiling also said.

She pointed to the murder trial of Fred Prosser in Moncton, N.B. In that case, a juror had posted comments in an anti-Prosser Facebook group, and a mistrial was declared when that information came to light.

By using social media to investigate, it can help avoid a mistrial, or help in the case of appeals, Kreiling said.

After all, Kreling said, quoting from the film The Social Network, “The Internet’s not written in pencil mark, it’s written in ink.”


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