Surveillance & operations in a pandemic: sightings & claimant activity are up!

Our sister company The Surveillance Group (TSG) have had a number of clients asking about the overall feasibility of surveillance being performed during the pandemic with clients wondering whether proceeding as normal is worthwhile?

Undoubtedly the answer is “yes”; in the last week alone, we have seen our sightings rate rocket and claimants in general have been more active than ever! Over the coming weeks with more and more people being based at home and boredom setting in we anticipate DIY, exercise and other activities to increase. Claimants that have previously been extremely careful about the activities they undertake away from home are acting in a more carefree manner as they join the scramble for essential supplies. Many people in isolation, but not actually sick, have also been seen undertaking home, garden and vehicle maintenance projects that have hitherto been put off, or visiting relatives to leave care packages at the doorstep.

TSG have like many businesses implemented home working practises to ensure that their service can continue uninterrupted, and with surveillance operatives frequently working in relative isolation they are able to continue as normal in the absence of any enforced ‘lock-down’.

Alongside this NetWatch continue to support surveillance operations with front-end intelligence to ensure any instructions are going to be effective and get results.

One of the greatest innovations to the surveillance industry in the last 10 years is our Temporary Intelligence Capture service; the tool allows all temporary social media posts (those that would disappear after 24hrs) to be captured. TSG are the only surveillance company on the market that can provide this tool with capture being provided free of charge for the week alongside all surveillance instructions. You can therefore be more certain than ever before that observations are not going to be undertaken without success even if the claimant stays home all week!

Ultimately extreme, challenging and different circumstances change behaviours and as a result claimant are being seen to behave without filter and allowing opportunities for results that would not usually be possible for the team at TSG. If in doubt we would advise you go ahead and instruct us as we are committed to driving results for our clients and will ensure you get a good outcome.

Finally in order to maintain seamless supply for our clients over the coming weeks and months, we have decided to keep our staff on full pay and avoid the use of statutory sick pay. Our reason for doing this is that we value our employees and we want them to be upfront with us about exposure to, or contracting of, COVID-19 whilst working from home / remotely. This will allow us to place staff in essential front line roles once they have achieved immunity. We will also stand firm against using redundancies to ease cash flow; as we value everyone who works for us and are confident as a country the UK will combat the issue and return to normality over the coming months. Our fully employed and highly skilled staff will be on hand to provide continuity of service for all your future requirements. We continue to appreciate your support and ongoing instructions during this time.