Traditionally, surveillance was used by insurance companies to try to catch people out who were not as injured as they may be making out. In this day and age, injured workers are doing the hard work for the insurance companies through posting what we’re they’re doing and where they’re going on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms.
Exchange of information between friends can be innocent enough but in the hands of an Insurer and/or Defendant things can be misconstrued and taken out of context. For example, if you are posting a photo of you out at a birthday party having a great time, the image to the outside world is just that. What can’t be seen is the pain you may have been in that day and the price you had to pay for making going along.
Credit is most important in compensation cases as the Judge and jury need to believe the evidence that you give about how you were injured and how your injuries affect you.
Having inconsistent surveillance or social media posts can be disastrous for an injured claimant. For example, Mrs Diab lost her Serious Injury Hearing in the County Court in February 2019 because the Judge found Mrs Diab to be unreliable, inconsistent and exaggerating the symptoms of her injury. Mrs Diab was seeking to claim compensation for a back injury, but the surveillance shown in Court demonstrated that she was far less restricted than she had previously advised the doctors.
View case study: https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sign.cgi/au/cases/vic/VCC/2019/119