Investigations & evidence · video an insurer will accept
An officer from Thames Valley Police and/or a claims handler at an insurer will need to trust what they see on the screen, and this trust is built into the file before it leaves the digital video recorder (DVR): a written hold on the file while the DVR loop retains the window; the use of statutory rights to the proper extent; and a release that includes hash values and a dated continuity statement. Retrieval itself is the lesser half of the task.
Go through it with an engineer
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| What's needed | The likely cause | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| The 31-day habit | There is no statute that provides for it, and a well-used digital recorder will wrap around in less than a month | Request preservation on the same day |
| The SAR clock is one month | The month starts from the date your request is received | Your request should be made in writing immediately |
| Those in the image who are bystanders are masked first | Any others in the picture need to be covered up before the images are released | Compliance is what is being done here, not obstruction |
| The view of a street by a doorbell camera | Domestic cameras recording outside of the owner's property are subject to all obligations as soon as they record something past their own property line | A household has an obligation to comply with a SAR as well |
| Chain of custody | All steps of this process have been documented, from the hard drive in your device to the final version you hand over | All exported data includes its SHA-256 hash value(s) along with a signed method statement |
Nothing is chargeable until you say yes. Every item gets a case number of its own immediately upon receipt, an engineer determines what has failed, and you get a clear picture of which files have a real possibility of being recovered. The single quote that follows is fixed, written down and does not cost anything.
Initially a written preservation request is submitted to whoever manages the recording device, followed by determining the actual length of time this storage will hold (not based upon the manufacturer's guidelines), but rather based upon the number of cameras and frames per second.
Each image provides two formats: an MP4 that may be opened on virtually all platforms, and the native format (often a .dav, or another maker's wrapper), along with the proprietary viewing software that reads those files.
In addition to the video, there are three items provided to support the integrity of evidence: a SHA-256 hash value for each file, a record of how the copies were created, and a dated log describing how they have been handled; together these three turn a clip that arrived by email into an exhibit that an insurance company or a court can rely on.
You don't get charged anything until you've confirmed and authorised that everything is fine after seeing the entire list of what was recovered. Any recovered items are returned via brand-new storage media and the postage costs for these are covered by us. We do not consider a project complete here until we receive confirmation that you have been able to successfully access and review every item you received back.
The value to the insurer: in a report issued by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) in November 2025, the total amount of claims fraud detected in 2024 was put at £1.16 billion. Of this amount, 51,700 motor cases were responsible for £576 million. A legible video will shorten an honest claim and defeat a staged claim, provided it is delivered documented, not forwarded.
The insurance company had requested evidence of the collision of two vans in a yard, but by then the recorder had "wound" past that date weeks prior. The one export a manager had made had itself been deleted from an office computer. We recovered it from there, produced hash values and a methodology report, and ultimately there was no need for a formal hearing to settle the claim.
You can. Video of you constitutes your own data. Therefore, when you make a subject access request, the store must send it to you. In addition, the store will have one month (a calendar month) in which to reply. The store will also need to anonymise any other identifiable persons. However, they can only rarely charge you for the copy.
Begin with the person running the recording system, as most will provide a copy without any fuss. As a last resort there are two formal ways: either a data protection request or a court order.
Sooner than the owner expects. There is no time limit set by statute. Under data protection law all CCTV recordings should be kept for no longer than necessary. A common practice therefore is to keep recordings for 31 days. A busy multi-camera recorder will loop well before the end of that time.
It has to work wherever and it has to be able to stand up to scrutiny. These are the reasons why the bundle contains a simple playable MP4, the original recording files, hash values and details about how each version was created.
Recording in a loop is already overwriting your needed evidence, and the deadline will not move. There is no cost associated with opening a case today: diagnoses are free and remain completely confidential.