ADR / Evidence, claims and footage / Evidence that supports a claim

Claims work · evidence for insurers, London

Evidence for an insurance claim, London. An adjuster can verify a hash, not a phone held up to a monitor.

There’s no test of your integrity here. What the adjuster is looking to confirm is whether this file is indeed the file it says it is. Three items determine if this is true: (i) the export created by the recorder itself, (ii) the hash values generated using that export, and (iii) a written description of how the file was taken off the disk. Claims are civil matters. The Forensic Science Regulator’s Code is a statutory instrument for criminal matters in this jurisdiction. As such, none of this falls under the Regulator’s Code, nor does any of it need accreditation. In fact, we don’t have any accreditation and every report starts with that statement. All aspects of what could not be read are also documented. From £800 + VAT, we agree upon a single price in writing prior to commencing the report.

Civil work, outside the criminal Code The export the unit made What read, and what did not

Talk it over with an engineer, in confidence
0203 0868633

What an adjuster can actually verify.

The container the unit wroteRecorders use their own formats and most players will not play them. Once a video file has been converted from its original format into another, or a camera has been pointed at a monitor, the pixels shift, the timing changes, and frame references change too. Thus, the original native file is extracted first, followed by a copy that may open on any player.

That clock on the unitMore disputes are settled by the clock than by any other information stored on the disk. There is clock drift, incorrect setting of the time on install, and failure to change for British Summer Time. Therefore, a time stamp recorded at 02:10 does not prove what happened at 02:10. So the offset against a reference is measured during acquisition, and this figure is documented within the report.

Continuity on the recordA reference number for the exhibit. Both hash values, at the beginning and the end. Each handover on the record, with its date written. Documentation written while work was being conducted. Each product produced from the master requires its own exhibit reference.

What refused to readA report that skirts around gaps in the reporting is of no use to an adjuster. Material that has been written over cannot be recovered; encrypted data without a key cannot be recovered either; if a unit never recorded then nothing exists to provide. The report provides detail on which of these three it relates to, and any returned picture without a time stamp shall also be marked accordingly.

Five sorts of claim we get asked about.

Not listed? Tell us what it does →

Kind of claim	What we receive here	What it can settle
A claim after an intrusion	The disk from the recorder, whether or not the unit still operates	The hours surrounding the event, exported in the unit's own format
A machine damaged by water, soot or heat	The disk out of that machine	Invoices, schedules and photos held within that machine
Motor claims	The dashcam card itself, rather than a forwarded clip	The camera’s own full data file (GPS, speed, sensor channels, all of which a forwarded MP4 discards), and a note stating what the forwarded version did not contain
A business showing what it held	The disk holding the records	A hashed list of whatever can still be read, plus a plain note on what cannot be determined from the disk
An argument over liability	The disk from a recorder that both parties believe supports their account	One set of exports, given to both parties alike, with a method available that either side can repeat

How it reaches us: get a straight quote first (via phone or form), then send it via tracked, insured post or drop it off at our Guildford intake lab, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm (no appointment needed); our Guildford lab takes it in, and the cost of sending it back to you is on us. Unsure what to put with it when sending it to us? Give us a ring before sealing your box and we'll put you through to an engineer who can tell you what you need to include and what needs to stay behind. All of this information is also outlined on our guide to packing and posting.

The sequence we follow.

Other jobs on the log →

Say what has happened, in confidence — then a figure in writing Free

Our forensic charges start at £800 + VAT. The amount charged depends upon the size of the task at hand, and that is determined in the course of our first telephone conversation: dates and events in dispute; machines and accounts involved; what needs to be demonstrated. There is no charge made for the initial telephone call. Furthermore, nothing that you would be billed for commences until a written fee quotation has been delivered to you.

That call goes no further than usA single figure, put in writingThe questions evidence must settle

Get the recorder off power today

Leaving power on and continuing recording causes new content to write over older. This cycle substantially exceeds the pace of a claim. How much is left on the recorder is not in any manual; it is dependent upon multiple factors including capacity, channel count, resolution and the way somebody configured the unit. Power off first, ring second.

Stopped before the loop returnedA hold notice on the file

Who may lawfully authorise it

Authority is required prior to an examination, from somebody with the right to permit it; absence of authority results in section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 biting. Each job therefore records who provided authority and under what conditions. Landlord, employer and commercial vehicle operator represent three separate positions.

Authority put in writingTested against the 1990 Computer Misuse Act

Exported in the recorder's own format

You receive two files back: the original export, with the player that opens it natively, and a copy that plays everywhere. The step between the two is described in writing, not left to viewers to interpret. Both MD5 and SHA-256 are applied against each file. And the report includes the gap between the recorder’s clock and real time.

Native export, plus a copy that playsThe clock offset given in the report

What the bundle holds, and who signed for it

Hand the opposite side a finding they have no way to verify, and the argument is theirs. So the bundle contains everything: each exhibit numbered, the hash values for each, dated and countersigned handovers, the images used for the conclusions reached, and the bench notes created whilst the work was ongoing. Repeat the steps and the result does not change.

Each finding tied to an exhibitHashes taken, and each handover loggedEvery step can be repeated

What the bench has learned

Proving what was held is an activity in itself: a yard office located out past Upminster, or a two-room firm operating on a Park Royal estate, must demonstrate what sat upon its equipment. The report indicates what currently reads on the disk and what the disk recorded about itself. No party, anywhere, can provide you with a list of files that have since become non-existent.
Consent must come from a person authorised to grant such consent: landlord, employer and vehicle operator position themselves in three distinct areas, and we address this question before any disk is retrieved from its housing.
A recorder does not wait for a claim: while the insurer is still assessing claims, the gate camera continues to write to the recording device. Stop the recording. Thereafter, there is no time limit.
An unstated method is a hole: leave out who created the copy and by what means, and it is the opposing side that raises the issue, not you.

Worth knowing before you instruct anybody: version 2 of the Regulator's statutory Code arrived in October 2025. Two of its named activities relate to our work, data capture from digital storage and CCTV recovery, each listed with ISO/IEC 17025 attached. However, the Code only applies to work towards a criminal prosecution in England and Wales, and nothing else; policy-based claims fall outside its scope. We do not hold such accreditation anyway, and page one of every report we produce states this.

One job, followed all the way through.

LDN · ADR-2026-3410JOB LOGGED ✓

A Park Royal unit, a burst pipe, and a clock nobody had put forward

The tenant and the insurer were arguing about which night water started coming through, and this issue could be resolved by using the time stamp of the corridor video because no other time-stamped information existed. The camera system did not have a clock adjustment for British Summer Time, therefore it ran one hour behind. This difference was determined, the work was based upon the data exported by the recorder itself, and both times were set out in the report. The claim settled on that basis.

At an end once the reports were inCPR Part 35 followed throughout

What helps, and what harms.

Do this much first

The recording device should have its power cut off today (i.e. switched off): every hour it keeps running will cost you recorded material
Include the policy number or the claim reference number with it when sending it
Identify the owner of the recorder, and anyone who may authorise work being done to it
First obtain a quote via telephone or use the provided quote request form. Then post only the recorder's disk, or drop it off at our Guildford intake lab, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm; you are not required to make an appointment. However, a forwarded clip of the footage will not suffice

What sets us back

Placing the recorder’s disk into a Windows computer
Returning the equipment to operational status via a factory reset by an installer
Sending a phone photo of your screen
Waiting until instructed to stop recording by the insurance company

The questions that come up first.

Does a policy claim need an accredited examiner?

No. There exists only one circumstance under the Regulator’s Code whereby ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation is requested, and that is if there is to be a criminal prosecution in England and Wales. Since your claim is a civil matter, the requirement does not apply. Additionally, we hold no such accreditation, regardless of the type of case work you are submitting to us, and you will find that this is explicitly stated on the opening page of every report. If at some point your claim becomes a criminal matter, we will notify you in writing.

Why will a phone video of the screen not do?

Consider the route it has travelled: from a monitor, past a phone lens, and then finally passed back through an additional encoding process. Therefore, none of the original timing or details recorded onto the device are going to pass along with it. Insurers want access to the actual file created by the device itself, complete with a hash value on it.

Can you show what is no longer on the disk?

All that can be read will be included in the list, while all information the disk itself records about the remaining portion will be described in the report. Any areas of material that have been overwritten will be noted as having been written over. No speculation will occur during this process.

Who must authorise the examination?

Whoever holds the right to give it. Unauthorised access to a machine engages the first section of the 1990 Computer Misuse Act; therefore, the footing for all cases is documented. A landlord's position is not an employer's, and neither is that of a vehicle operator or of a driver operating the vehicle.

Begin here if yours is doing the same thing.

The rest of our work → When a staff member is involved → What a forensic job involves → Work that reaches court →

Off the mains first, because that is what protects the evidence.

Regardless of what contains the evidence, turn off electrical power to it before doing anything else: a recorder still operating overwrites its oldest evidence every hour. Once power is removed, secure a price quotation (either by phone or through submitting a form), then post us just the disk or drive (do not include the recorder or computer), or drop it off at our Guildford intake lab, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm (no appointment needed). Evaluation costs nothing; work on recorders costs £400 + VAT and forensic analysis starts at £800 + VAT, both prices agreed to in writing beforehand. What sits on that disk stays here.

0203 0868633

Price my job Sending it to Guildford

Drives, cards and entire machines

Whatever it is doing now

Footage, evidence and reports

What it costs, and what follows