Claims of spying, bullying and intimidation by the private investigators hired to look into insurance claims have led consumer rights lawyers to push for more regulation of insurance investigations.

Key points: Consumer rights lawyers want tighter controls for insurance investigators

Consumer rights lawyers want tighter controls for insurance investigators Claimants report being filmed, 'treated like criminals'

Claimants report being filmed, 'treated like criminals' Insurers say surveillance used sparingly, by licensed investigators

Former police officer Rachel Clark was spied on by her insurance company, MetLife, and was filmed at the supermarket, shopping with her three children and even helping them try on clothes in a change room.

"They filmed me at the gym, they filmed me at one of my children's swimming carnivals, so they were filming other people and their children, and my children," she told 7.30.

Ms Clark's 14-year career with the New South Wales police ended in 2010 when she was medically discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

The mother of three was followed and filmed by investigators after she lodged a disability insurance claim.

"I was assisting an investigation where a child was sexually assaulted over a five-year period and the offender filmed the incidents," she said.

"Part of my job was to view the footage several times in order to be able to determine what to charge him with."

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Former police officer's health deteriorated after claim rejected

She said she could not get the horrific images out of her head, leading to her PTSD and depression.

After leaving the police force, Ms Clark said her mental state worsened after she was sent the investigator's surveillance footage along with a letter saying her claim had been rejected.

MetLife believed she was in a fit mental state to find a new job.

"I kind of spiralled downwards," she said.

"I had to go back to see my psychiatrist and he doubled my medication at that point."

Rachel Clark's lawyer, Josh Mennen, said he believed the reason MetLife started secretly filming Ms Clark was to put pressure on her to drop the claim.

"Surveillance is used, in part, at times, as a bullying tactic, so that the claimant will drop that claim because they're under too much stress and find the process too difficult," he said.

MetLife said it used surveillance sparingly and only employed licensed investigators.

One in four calls to Sydney's Financial Rights Legal Centre is from people who say they have been by bullied by insurance investigators.

One of the Centre's solicitors, Alexandra Kelly, said the investigators were not allowing her clients the presumption of innocence.

"Our clients feel that they've already been accused of being guilty, that the investigator isn't investigating what's really happened with the insurance claim, but instead just thinks that they're guilty and is trying to find evidence to corroborate their guilt," Ms Kelly said.

Insurance claim was 'like a nightmare', arson victim says

Elaine Gann claimed on her insurance after her house was gutted by fire.

One of those clients was Elaine Gann, whose home was destroyed by arson three years ago.

Elaine's son Michael was a suspect but was later cleared by the police.

Despite this, she said the private investigators sent by her insurers, NRMA and IAG, treated her and her son like criminals.

They were both questioned for nearly five hours in total and felt pressured to drop the claim.

"I didn't expect that I'd have to go through the loss of my home as well as have to fight my insurance company to get my claims paid in it was like a nightmare on top of a nightmare," she said.

In a statement, IAG said: "Regardless of whether or not the police decide to pursue prosecution in relation to an incident, we need to investigate a claim and based on the evidence we gather make our own objective assessment."

The Financial Rights Legal Centre has collected dozens of stories like the Gann's for inclusion in a report, released today, which recommends tighter controls for insurance investigators.

"We'd really like the insurance industry to take more ownership as to their responsibility for their private investigators and set a robust set of standards for those investigators to meet," Alexandra Kelly said.

"And make that a public document so the consumer knows how this relationship works, and they can't be bamboozled and tricked and cajoled by an investigator into providing information they don't have to, or being subject to really long interviews they don't need to be."