About Video Surveillance

You've Been Warned
It comes as a shock to many disabled persons to learn that their disability insurance company has been conducting covert video surveillance of them.

The insurance company isn't going to tell you in advance when, or even if, they're going to be doing this. If they want to catch malingerers, they have to maintain an element of surprise. You won't even know it's happened until they deny your claim, and if they don't deny your claim you might never learn about it at all. Since the insurance company won't warn you in advance, I'm going to warn you about it right now:

If you are disabled and on claim, there is a chance that you will be secretly videotaped going about your daily activities. If the condition disabling you is chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, anxiety, depression, back pain, or any other condition the insurance company regards as questionable, and if you are claiming total disability under an "own occupation" insurance policy, then there is a very good chance of it.

What Do They Do?
The insurance company contacts a video surveillance investigator and provides him with the necessary information. The video surveillance investigator parks his car near your house and videotapes from the car. If possible, he will videotape activities inside your house through the windows. If he sees you leaving the house, he will follow you and continue videotaping your activities at the next location. The investigator will sometimes get out of his car and follow you on foot. This may go on for several days. The investigator will then send the tapes to the insurance company, along with a brief summary of their contents. The investigator bills the company for his time, and the company pays him.

Why Do They Do It?
Why not? If you were legally obligated to pay somebody $10,000 a month if he became disabled, and he was claiming to be disabled due to some mysterious ailment that no X-ray or lab study or other medical test can detect -- which puts you in the position of simply having to take his word for it -- wouldn't you want to check up on him once in a while?

What Do They Get Out Of It?
Sometimes the tape shows nothing. But once in a while, the videotape will show a claimant engaging in physical activity -- including strenuous or exacting activities -- after he's told the insurance company that he's so depressed or in so much pain he can barely move, much less work. Sometimes, incredibly, the tape shows the "disabled" person going to work every day! Those few instances where malingerers are caught in the act more than pay for the expense of all the other video surveillance's that turned up nothing. The fact is that video surveillance pays.

Can Video Surveillance Cause Problems For People Who Truly Are Disabled?
Unfortunately, yes, it can happen. If the condition disabling you has a variable course -- that is, if you have good days and bad days -- there is always the chance you'll be videotaped on a good day. Or it might happen that the physical or mental condition that absolutely prevents you from engaging in the sustained day-in and day-out activity required of you on the job, doesn't prevent the occasional trip to the market or afternoon tending the garden -- and, as luck would have it, that's what the videographer catches you doing.

What Can You Do About It?
Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Be reasonable. Ask yourself if the activities you are engaging in -- and not just the activities themselves, but also their frequency and duration -- are activities a person could engage in who was disabled from performing the duties of your occupation.
   
   For example, if you are a physician whose severe chronic back pain prevents you from practicing medicine, is it reasonable to think you could still mow the lawn once a week? If the reasonable answer is yes, you still might end up having to convince the insurance company of it, but at least there is a good chance that being videotaped won't jeopardize your disability claim payments in the long run. But if the reasonable answer is no, then maybe you aren't disabled after all. Does that sound harsh? That's what the insurance company's claims department is likely to think, so you'd better be prepared for it.
   
   Above all, don't think you have to exaggerate in order to seem "more" disabled to the insurance company. If the condition disabling you absolutely prevents you from working, but doesn't prevent you from engaging in less stressful or demanding activities, don't exaggerate and say you're bedridden or housebound. Few disabling conditions are that severe, nor do insurance company claim departments expect them to be.
   
   But if that's what you tell your treating physician or the insurance company, and then if you're subsequently videotaped out and about, they will start to question your honesty. Even if you truly are totally disabled, you may find yourself in the middle of a nasty investigation, being asked all kinds of embarrassing and irrelevant questions. Worst of all, you risk sidetracking the claim department to the point where they might even lose sight of the fact that you really do meet the policy's definition of disability. Don't do that to yourself!
   
   
2. Be proactive. You and your doctor are probably required to complete continuance of disability forms each month for the insurance company. If your activities pass the "reasonable" test above, you need to make sure that details about them -- the activities, and the duration and frequency you are able to tolerate -- get into your doctor's records, and that your doctor reports them to the insurance company. The idea is to give the insurance company all the information it needs about any activities a videographer might subsequently tape you doing. At least in theory, the claims department have nothing to be surprised about when the tape arrives.
   
   
3. Be careful. Discuss everything in advance with your doctor and your attorney. I'm not saying you have to live in fear. You don't have to go hat in hand to the insurance company every time you want to walk the dog. But if your disability does allow you to engage in certain activities, you need to decide how you will respond to the insurance company if they tape you doing it. Don't think of the insurance company as an adversary just yet; think of them as your partner. If a friend ran into you at the store and said, "Nice to see you out and about! I thought you were disabled," how would you answer? That's how you should respond to the insurance company if they question you. "I feel up to it once a month or so," or "I'll have to spend the rest of the day in bed," or, more to the point, "I can shop for groceries, but I still can't do the things I was doing at work, because..." Above all, rely on the good judgment of your doctor and your attorney.

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