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March 30, 2017

Bad cell data can lead insurers to deny claims

  • Experts say cellphone tower data should not be used to pinpoint people's locations, but companies use the information to deny claims.
    • By DAVE COLLINS
    Associated Press

    HARTFORD, Conn. — It took Jaclyn Bentley nearly three years to prove she didn't burn her house down for the insurance money, allegations she and her lawyer say were born of the junk practice of analyzing cellphone tower data.

    She was camping with her husband and co-workers at least 17 miles from her Iowa home in May 2014 when it burned down, she says. An investigator for State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. said cell tower data showed Bentley's phone was 5 to 12 miles from the campsite in the direction of her home just after the fire was reported — the suggestion being she could have been heading back to camp after starting the blaze.


     
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