Do insurers have the right to check your social media posts to find out whether you've submitted a fraudulent claim? When insurance litigation attorney Maria Philippides posed that question at an insurance seminar hosted by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright in Durban recently, it was clear that most of the several hundred delegates were unsure of the answer. And that answer is yes. Philippides said insurers may access social media platforms both at the underwriting stage to assess an applicant's risk and at claims stage to verify their version of events. "For example, if someone uses 'shouty' capitals in their posts, does that mean they are probably aggressive, which may make them a potentially risky driver, and therefore accident-prone?" she said. Facebook, in particular, gave insurers access to invaluable information, Philippides said, and they had a right to use it because it had been put in the public domain. And given that "public" is the default privacy setting for Facebook, a lo...
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