Australia General Insurance Code of Practice (2020 Code as updated) gicop-p15-224-235-external-investigators-surveillance: Contract external investigators to conduct standards including for vulnerable people, instruct them in writing and control scope changes, train them on vulnerability, keep a licence register, require seven-year contemporaneous records and lawful methods with no inducements or threats, require authority before alleging fraud, and authorise surveillance only after alternatives, a recorded belief of inconsistency and senior review, never in prohibited places

What does gicop-p15-224-235-external-investigators-surveillance require?

Contracts with Investigators set conduct standards and spell out what is required when the person investigated may be vulnerable; the insurer gives written instructions for each investigation, confirms changes in writing and requires consent before instructions are exceeded; Investigators record their requests for written authorisation to access personal information held by others and hand the records over at the end; Investigators who may deal with vulnerable people are trained first; and the insurer keeps an up-to-date register of Investigators' licences and expiry dates. Investigators make or keep contemporaneous written records of all investigation activities (conversations in person and by telephone, unanswered calls and messages, written communications, travel, interviews and statements, and electronic checks, government and social media sites among them), which the insurer or the investigation firm keeps for at least 7 years, and must collect only information reasonably believed relevant, comply with the law, use no illegal means, induce no one to do what they would not otherwise have done, make no threat, promise or inducement, comply with the standards relevant to their work, and obtain the insurer's authority before alleging fraud. Before authorising surveillance the insurer makes sure alternative verification methods were considered, must reasonably believe the claim appears inconsistent with the available information and record its reasons, and has a suitably experienced Employee review and approve the request; surveillance is not conducted in courts or judicial facilities, medical facilities, bathrooms, change rooms or lactation rooms, inside the customer's house, at business premises not open to the public, or where the law prohibits it; it stops once the insurer learns the customer has a pre-existing mental health condition; and Investigators may not communicate with neighbours or colleagues in a way that reveals or damages the customer's position.