Jan 12, 2021
Can Insurance Investigators Tap Your Phone in Georgia?
Many workers’ compensation insurance companies have gained notoriety among policyholders and injury law firms alike for denying, delaying, undervaluing, and otherwise mishandling claims, all in the name of protecting their profits. The infamous nature of such insurance companies has become so prevalent, you and probably most of the people you know are hesitant to even call an insurer after a work-related injury. You know that they might try some tricks to get you to say the wrong thing and invalidate your claim to workers’ comp benefits.
Out of all the tricks that insurance companies use while working on a claim, is tapping your phone one of them? Does Georgia law allow an insurance investigator to tap your phone and listen for any conversations that might prove you falsified your workers’ comp claim or faked your work injury? No, absolutely not. Insurance companies cannot do anything illegal to try to gain an advantage in your claim, and tapping your phone is definitely illegal.
Can the Insurance Company Record Your Calls?
Do you have a friend or family member who told you that the insurance company tapped their phone calls? They might have been thinking about recorded phone calls, which are much different and far more legal.
When you call or receive a call from an insurance company about your workers’ compensation claim, the insurer can record it and save that recording for later. Georgia has a one-party consent law for recorded conversations, so the insurer doesn’t even need to tell you that they are recording the conversation as long as you are speaking to a representative in the same state. However, it is far more common for any phone calls with an insurance company to start with a message stating that the recording will be recorded “for quality and training purposes.”
If you continue to have a conversation with that insurer after being informed that the conversation will be recorded, then you are consenting to the recording. You need to be mindful of what you say because that recording can be used against you later. For this reason, it is suggested that you always allow a workers’ compensation attorney to talk to the insurance company on your behalf. They know what insurers want to hear in order to deny a workers’ comp claim, so they know not to say those things.
Can Insurance Get Recordings Through Other Means?
Technically, an insurance company can request a court order to get information from your phone if they think it would benefit their claim and reveal criminal activity like fraud. But in the vast majority of situations, you will never need to worry about an insurance company going this far as to deny your workers’ comp claim. Heading to court can be expensive and convincing a judge that such an invasion of your privacy is warranted will be extremely difficult.
Need help with a workers’ comp claim in Georgia? Worried that you might have said the wrong thing to an insurance investigator about your case? Call 770-922-3660 to connect with Hansford McDaniel – Workers’ Compensation Attorneys and our workers’ comp attorneys. We can take your case from here and do everything in our power to ensure your claim resolves favorably.
