Surveillance and Privacy
Surveillance investigations can provide powerful evidence to assist in claim decisions and reduce the overall cost of claims. As with all claims management tools, it must be used appropriately and conducted with expertise to obtain results.
Unlike other claims management tools, investigations (and investigators) periodically suffer from a negative portrayal in the media. Put simply, what steps do professional investigation firms take to ensure there is no reputational risk to the instructing clients?
MPOL Group comply with all the Commonwealth and State laws, Privacy Laws, Industry and client-specific codes of conduct and guidelines which regulate surveillance investigations. These rules and regulations are there to reasonably protect privacy, to establish best practice, ensure the admissibility of evidence gathered and, last but not least, to protect the reputation of the instructing client or governing body.
MPOL Group dedicates significant time and resources to ensure our team is both compliant with and fully informed of all current compliance requirements and that these are built into our operating procedures. We train our investigators thoroughly, instruct them clearly, receive daily progress reports and conduct formal quality reviews of every file. In short, we actively monitor and review our compliance and our investigators’ practices.
We understand that when a client instructs us, they are naturally focused on MPOL obtaining a result and we take every possible legal step to do just that. It is also our responsibility to advise clients what we cannot do while remaining compliant with our regulations, which at times can come as a surprise.
For example, in some jurisdictions, if surveillance is conducted but there is no-one sighted, no cars present and no indication that the subject lives there, many clients would simply expect an investigator to talk to neighbours or people in the area and attempt to find out. However, in these jurisdictions, the relevant codes of conduct allow only passive observation: passive surveillance precludes investigators even from speaking to the neighbours of a subject.
However, in an identical situation but in another jurisdiction where a Fraud or employee theft matter is involved, discreet questions to neighbours may be an appropriate avenue of enquiry.
This is where MPOL’s 20 years of experience and expertise is significant – we make it our business to understand our client’s requirements and the regulatory environment the investigation will be conducted in. We will not conduct investigations which risk the admissibility of evidence or a client’s reputation.
If you would like more information on MPOL’s surveillance strategies or would like to discuss having MPOL provide information to your staff on the practical application of surveillance, please contact Mark Lieberman or on 0401 494 981