The Use of Photos in Insurance: An Evolution

In our ebook “Combatting digital photo and media fraud in insurance“, we discuss emerging threats, risks, prevention but we begin by discussing the applicability of photos to insurance.

Insurance

The first verifiable example of “insurance” was in the Code of Hammurabi in 1750 BC. The Hammurabi Code of Laws was a collection of 282 rules, established standards for commercial interactions, and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements of justice.

Fast forward to today, and insurance has been embraced worldwide as a way to guard against financial loss. Obtaining a property insurance policy has become a relatively easy process, under ordinary circumstances.

Applicability of Photos to Insurance

Historically, an inspection of physical properties and surrounding environments has been a part of the insurance process. These inspections were on-location inspections by an underwriter or their agent. Generally, a written record of the inspection was created and maintained in order to be used in the event of a loss. Starting in the 1800s, photographs were used to record the results of these inspections.

While “evidence” of an insurance inspection or loss often does not usually rise to the level required by current or former legal statutes, it is customary to include photographic evidence as part of insurance claims. As claims may come into dispute and make their way to a court of law, the photos may indeed be subject to “authenticity” requirements. 

Until the advent of digital photography and its widespread use in insurance, there was possible, albeit limited concern of photos being altered for fraudulent purposes. Today, with numerous options available to edit digital photos and videos, some with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and many tools readily accessible by the public, the issue of photo and media authenticity for insurance purposes has risen to a new level of importance.

To keep reading about the use of photos in insurance and much more, get the ebook on combatting digital photo and media fraud in insurance.

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Nicos Vekiarides

Nicos Vekiarides

Nicos Vekiarides is the Chief Executive Officer & co-founder of Attestiv. He has spent the past 20+ years in enterprise IT and cloud, as a CEO & entrepreneur, bringing innovative new technologies to market. His previous startup, TwinStrata, an innovative cloud storage company where he pioneered cloud-integrated storage for the enterprise, was acquired by EMC in 2014. Before that, he brought to market the industry’s first storage virtualization appliance for StorageApps, a company later acquired by HP.

Nicos holds 6 technology patents in storage, networking and cloud technology and has published numerous articles on new technologies. Nicos is a partner at Mentors Fund, an early-stage venture fund, a mentor at Founder Institute Boston, where he coaches first-time entrepreneurs, and an advisor to several companies. Nicos holds degrees from MIT and Carnegie Mellon University.

Mark Morley

Mark Morley is the Chief Operating Officer of Attestiv.

He received his formative Data Integrity training at Deloitte. Served as the CFO of Iomega (NYSE), the international manufacturer of Zip storage devices, at the time,  the second fastest-growing public company in the U.S.. He served as the CFO of Encore Computer (NASDAQ) as it grew from Revenue of $2 million to over $200 million. During “Desert Storm”, Mark was required to hold the highest U.S. and NATO clearances.

Mark authored a seminal article on Data Integrity online (Wall Street Journal Online). Additionally, he served as EVP, General Counsel and CFO at Digital Guardian, a high-growth cybersecurity company.

Earlier in his career, he worked at an independent insurance agency, Amica as a claims representative, and was the CEO of the captive insurance subsidiary of a NYSE company.

He obtained Bachelor (Economics) and Doctor of Law degrees from Boston College and is a graduate of Harvard Business School.