Insurer Surveillance in LTD and Personal Injury Cases: What’s Allowed and What Isn’t

Insurer Surveillance Is Routine

Both LTD insurers and auto insurance companies routinely retain licensed private investigators to conduct covert video surveillance of claimants. This practice is legal in Ontario: activities in publicly visible areas carry no reasonable expectation of privacy, and insurers have a legitimate interest in verifying that benefit payments reflect genuine disability.

What Investigators Can Legally Do

Investigators may: film claimants in publicly accessible spaces; document activities visible from public vantage points; note duration, frequency, and nature of observed activities. They may not: trespass on private property; use equipment to see into private residences; or capture activities in inherently private locations such as medical offices or washrooms.

Litigation Disclosure Obligations

All surveillance material must be disclosed to the claimant’s lawyer before trial. Surveillance withheld and then introduced at trial as surprise evidence has been excluded by Ontario courts, accompanied by adverse costs awards. The disclosure obligation means your lawyer reviews all surveillance before trial and can develop responses to it.

Protecting Your Claim

The most important principle: live consistently with what you tell your doctors. Chronic conditions are characterized by variable symptom levels — good days and bad days are clinically expected and entirely consistent with genuine disability. Discussing your variable presentation honestly with your medical team and lawyer creates a coherent record that surveillance cannot undermine.