Do I have to give my insurer sensitive personal information such as bank statements and phone records?

You only need to give us information and or documents that are relevant to the claim. If you feel that the information that has been requested of you is irrelevant to the claim, ask us to explain why they think it is relevant to the claim. After being provided with our response, it is up to you to decide whether you still want to provide the information requested. Please note though that if you do not provide the information requested and we still believe that that information is relevant to deciding whether to approve or reject your claim, we may deny your claim on the grounds that you have failed to cooperate with the claims investigation process as required of you by your insurance contract and more generally under your legal duty of utmost good faith.

 

Bank statements and phone records are very standard information that we generally request from insured persons particularly those who make a claim for a single vehicle collision or theft. Bank statements are relevant to determining whether an insured has a motive for making a fraudulent claim. However, in and of itself, having a low bank balance is not conclusive evidence that the claim is fraudulent. On the other hand, large, suspicious and unexplained movements in and out of your bank account prior to the insurance claim may paint a different picture.

 

Telephone records are relevant to verifying your version of events if for example you have mentioned to us that you telephoned someone to let them know about the car accident or called someone to drive you home when your car was stolen for example. If you did not call anyone, arguably the phone records are not relevant.

It is important to remember that if your claim is a genuine one, there should not be anything that you need to hide or fear being uncovered. Therefore, it is always a good idea to cooperate with us and provide us with as much information as we think we need to decide your claim with the only provision being that you are well within your rights to ask us why we think that particular information or document is relevant to the claim. It is a good idea that if you provide the requested information you should also keep a copy for your own records and keep a record of every time you are being requested for more information, why it is being requested and when it was requested and provided.

Tags: information, records, statements

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