Don’t Let Social Media Damage Your Injury Case
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great ways to connect with friends and family around the globe. It’s a space to share thoughts, experiences, joy, and pain. However, it because much more than a casual tool to connect with people when you have suffered an injury you are seeking compensation for. Individuals can use social media to find out more about a person and insurance companies have certainly taken note of it as well.How Social Media Can Work Against You
Insurance companies realize that they can find out a lot about you and your level of activity just by reading the things you post to social media. They, in turn, can use this information against you in cases of personal injury claims. They will use any information they can to make it look like your claim is fraudulent or will reduce the amount of money you may be awarded. Follow these social media guidelines to ensure you and your attorney have the strongest case possible.
- Google Yourself: Look into your own history to check for anything that insurance claims adjustors might be able to use to discredit your claim. Discuss them with your personal injury lawyer.
- Don’t Delete Anything. You will want to eliminate any information you think may be damaging to your case but don’t do it. By deleting any content, it will look as if you are trying to hide something and concealing evidence can get you into trouble. You could be issued a fine or your case could be completely thrown out. Discuss anything you think could hurt your case with your attorney and take their advice on how to handle it. If you have a personal injury lawyer who tells you to delete any evidence, you should seek other counsel.
- Do Not Post About Your Accident: You may want to update your social circle about what happened or how you are recovering but you must fight the urge to do so on social media. Even saying something as small as, “I looked away for an instant”, can make it easy for an insurance attorneys to assign blame to you.
- Talk To Your Friends And Family: Let your friends and family know not to tag you at any locations or post any pictures of you. If you are claiming that the incident has caused you to suffer emotional damage, pictures of you looking happy will be used to discredit you. If you are pursuing a claim in which you have been physically injured being tagged in a post about going ice skating can be misconstrued to show that you aren’t hindered from doing any physical activities. Even if you aren’t participating in the activity, the perception that you are can be enough to greatly reduce your award or have your claim dismissed.
- Understand Privacy Settings: Even when you set your posts to private or change your privacy settings, claims adjusters still have the right access to your posts. It’s still a good rule of thumb to maintain some level of privacy but don’t count on it to hide any evidence from insurance attorneys.
Ultimately, your best bet during an accident claim is to stay off social media all together. This may be a bit challenging for some but it is the best way to ensure you don’t absentmindedly post something that may hurt your case.
In any accident the best thing to do is speak with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. They should be your first resource for advice on how to handle all of your social media accounts. You’ll want to disclose any information your attorney will need to build a strong case for you and counter anything the insurance company may use to discredit you. Michael Babboni has helped hundreds of people in the state of Florida negotiate a fair settlement for their claims and he can help you too. Contact us today for a free case review!