On any loss of significance, the insurance company will want to take a recorded statement from the insured as to the facts and circumstances surrounding the loss. All insurance policies require the insured to submit to any reasonable request for such a statement and the insured should promptly comply with the insurance company's request. Recording the statement is accepted and standard procedure and should not be a cause for concern to the insured as recording may later even prove helpful to the insured if the style or manner of questioning by the claim adjuster ends up being inappropriate.
Bear in mind that you will usually be asked questions that go beyond the actual scope of the claim itself. Most claim adjusters have a "list" of areas that they will want to cover in addition to making factual inquiries about the claim itself. These other areas include inquiring as to any prior insurance claims you may have made, any financial difficulties you may have been experiencing at the time of the loss, or the like. Let there be no mistake about it, these areas are inquired about because the insurance company is seeking factual information which might provide the insurance company with a reason not to pay the claim even if the claim is legitimate.
For example, most applications for insurance ask if the proposed policyholder has had any insurance claims within the past three to five years. If the application revealed no prior claims, but the insured acknowledges an unrelated claim during the relevant time period, that may become a basis for the insurance company to allege that the insurance policy was obtained through fraud or misrepresentation and deny the current claim on that basis.
The best approach is for the insured to anticipate that these types of "unrelated" questions may well be asked and to think about them in advance so that accurate information can be provided, at the same time being aware of striking a proper balance between what's arguably related to the claim at hand versus an unnecessary "fishing expedition" by the insurance company during the recorded statement. If the questions seem to have drifted too far away from the facts of the claim, the insured should politely inquire as to why these unrelated questions are being asked and what value they have to the insurance company. Such a "protest" will often end unrelated inquiries but, if not, you simply need to make a judgment as to what unrelated information you care to provide and what information you will decline to provide. As always, the overriding issue is whether the insurance company's request for information was reasonable and whether your reaction to that request was reasonable.
