Social Networking and the SIU

"I don't remember giving permission for a party, Joel." That memorable line, spoken by the father of Tom Cruise's Joel Goodson character in "Risky Business," may be delivered increasingly to insurance investigators if insurers begin to hold homeowners liable for damages related to house parties advertised on social networking sites, such as Bebo.com.U.K.-based Sterling Insurance Group made a public statement in reaction to the latest notorious example of the growing phenomenon of out-of-control house parties.

"The worrying trend of teenagers vandalising and damaging homes after house parties have been advertised on social networking sites such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook, has led policyholders to question whether their homes are covered for similar activities," comments Sara Greenland, associate director of personal lines, Sterling Insurance Group.

The party in question was described in a Daily Mail story entitled "The teen party where 50 yobs trashed the house and even drugged the family puppy." Homeowners Robert and Julia Anscomb reported more than £5,000 worth of damage. Mr. and Mrs. Anscomb also reported feeling "totally violated" by the extensive damage to their home resulting from what was supposed to be "a quiet sleepover with a couple of friends" of 15-year-old Gemma Johnson, Mr. Anscomb's stepdaughter, who is yet to reappear at the family home.

As to whether homeowners such as the Anscombs are covered, Sterling Insurance Group's Sara Greenland only says that most insurance policies require policyholders to demonstrate reasonable care. "Policies may be invalidated if a policyholder or family member had acted recklessly and was aware that their actions could result in theft or damage to property," she explains.

The Anscombs didn't exactly act recklessly, but policyholders in their place might be construed to have been negligent, Greenland implies. "With their being several high-profile examples of significant damage to homes caused by partygoers who had been invited through networking sites, if the policyholder was aware that their children were planning such a party, there may be grounds for the insurer arguing that they had not taken reasonable care, and the damage would not be insured," she says.

Clearly the Anscombs were unaware that young Gemma was planning "such a party," but they were aware that she was planning some kind of party. It's a stretch to hold parents responsible for being aware of their children's online invitations to parties, especially as sites may go in and out of fashion and existence. However, if privacy requirements permit, it seems like a pretty good idea for insurance companies' special investigative units to keep an eye on social networking sites such as Bebo.com via Web crawler technology that can correlate policyholder addresses to party invitations.It seems like a pretty good idea for insurance companies' special investigative units to keep an eye on social networking sites such as Bebo.com via Web crawler technology that can correlate policyholder addresses to party invitations.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio