Life Insurers Using Social Media Information to Deny Coverage

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Chris Tepedino is a feature writer that has written extensively about home, life, and motorcar insurance for numerous websites. He has a college degree in communication from the University of Tennessee and has feel reporting, researching investigative pieces, and crafting detailed, data-driven features. His works have been featured on CB Blog Nation, Period Words, Healing Law, WIBW Kansas, and C... Full Bio →

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Laura Walker graduated college with a BS in Criminal Justice with a modest in Political Science. She married her husband and began working in the family insurance business organization in 2005. She became a licensed agent and wrote P&C concern focusing on personal lines insurance for 10 years. Laura serviced existing business and wrote new business. She now uses her insurance groundwork to help brainwash... Full Bio →

Reviewed past Laura Walker One-time Licensed Agent

UPDATED: Apr 28, 2022

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Over the grade of the by decade, social media has become an integral office of our daily lives. Yet, when you lot recollect about posting to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you probably don't consider how it could affect your insurance. The truth is, social media could very well become a standard part of the insurance underwriting process in the not as well distant future.

In the final one-half-century, insurance companies began policies knowing very fiddling about their clients. But in this new technological era, they take evolved and begun to persistently seek new and different ways to revise their rating structures. Specially with the advent of mileage devices that report driving habits and other customer data to the insurer, increasingly more of what policyholders do in their daily lives is becoming privy to their insurance companies.

• Means Your Posts Could Cause Problems
• How Insurers Are Using Social Media Now
• Tips to Protect Yourself

Ways Your Posts Could Cause Problems

The effects of social media on the insurance industry are just beginning to be felt, then it's a good time to accept command of your posting habits in club to foreclose future issues. Here are some things that could adversely impact your relationship with your insurer:

• Selfies
  Taking pictures while driving and uploading them to social media could issue in having your policy not-renewed based on the implication that you are a distracted commuter.
• Text Messages
  If you share screen shots of text conversations that allude to the fact you were texting while driving, this could cost you lot big. Specially if you were involved in an accident around the timestamp of the conversation in question, an Insurer may deny your merits or listing y'all as at-fault.
• Geotagging
  Many people aren't even enlightened that the geotagging setting on their telephone's camera is switched on. Unfortunately, information technology could put your dwelling at gamble while you're away on vacation. In the issue of a burglary, an insurance company may claim negligence on your part if they notice photos uploaded to social media with geotags.
• Relationships
  Maybe you lot've just gone through a divorce and don't have the heart to modify your relationship condition yet, or you're merely living with a partner but feel like they're your spouse. In either example, your insurer may need that you add the significant other listed on social media to your policy. Some states require both spouses to be named on an automobile policy, and then your relationship condition may cause them to suspect that you lot have an uninsured commuter in your household.
• Pets
  Possibly you forgot to notify your insurance company that you got a new dog or you weren't aware that they needed to know. Either way, certain breeds could result in the counterfoil of your policy if your insurer discovers that you have a dog from your social media posts.
• Bad Habits
  Yous've given upward smoking, but it used to be a big part of your life and there are plenty of pictures on your Facebook of you enjoying a cigarette. Since you've given upwards the habit, you were able to proudly tell the amanuensis writing your life insurance that you don't fume. Just look, your social media seems to say otherwise. Should your life insurance company see your contour, you may be in for a rate increment since your policy was written for a non-smoker.

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How Insurers Are Using Social Media Now

The majority of insurance companies are using social media generally for marketing purposes although a few have already begun to search for customer information. Fortunately, there is currently no indication that you lot'll need to give up your social media account information to your insurance company any fourth dimension soon. In fact, many of the ways insurers are using information from social media are good news for you.

Whenever a claim is filed and suspicious of fraud are aroused, an investigation is launched. Thanks to social media platforms like Facebook, insurance adjusters now have a new avenue in which they can research the parties involved in the claim. At that place have been instances of people attempting to commit insurance fraud but were thwarted due to their social media posts. Since insurance fraud raises premiums, it's a good thing to exist prevented. Less fraud means better premiums and that'due south good news for you.

Tips to Protect Yourself

There's no need to fearfulness that you'll go a letter from your insurance company saying that your policy has been cancelled due to something you said or did on a social media business relationship. Use this tips to safeguard your online identity against a possible retort from an insurer:

• Check your privacy settings
  Try to make the majority of your posts viewable just by friends equally much as possible. This way if there is anything that could be misinterpreted on your profile, you won't have to worry near an insurer seeing information technology since your profile is only viewable by friends.
• Turn off geotagging
  Become into your camera settings and see if geotagging is switched "on," if and so, plough it off so that your coordinates aren't attached to the photos you lot take. Since any public photo with an attached geotag could tell a potential burglar that you aren't home or what expensive gifts you lot received, yous could be increasing your adventure of a burglary.
• Never omit information when obtaining insurance
  As a general rule, information technology'south best to be every bit upfront and honest as possible with your amanuensis. Usually something that could piece of work confronting you lot can exist managed when the policy is started, but insurers are more likely to cancel or non-renew your policy if they notice that you have been untruthful virtually your insurability.

  Although insurance companies are not currently using social media as a standard component of underwriting, that day may be coming much sooner than you would expect. Be prepared and safeguard your social media accounts against anything that could be misconstrued by a potential insurer. Always exist honest with your insurance agent and never withhold pertinent information. As long as you are upstanding in your actions towards your insurance company, y'all should never have any reason to worry that your social media posts may come back to haunt y'all.

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