With social media being such a huge part of our lives it is very easy to want to share when something happens to us, big or small. It is almost second nature to share with friends or family online using posts, photos, or videos. But if you have been injured in an accident and are pursuing a personal injury claim, posting on social media can lead you to some future difficulties and have negative consequences for your claim.
Our personal injury lawyers have seen problems in the past when clients share too much online. We want to show you how social media can impact your personal injury claim, why you should avoid sharing at this time, and some tips to follow while your claim is pending.
How Can Social Media Impact My Claim?
Despite your injuries and pain being legitimate and interrupting your life, social media posts can contradict what you are feeling and potentially undermine your claim.
You could potentially mention something online about going to work, on a vacation, or the gym. Maybe you yourself are in denial about how bad your injury is and talk about that in a post or video. Insurance companies are vigilant and use any evidence they can find to downplay your injuries and accuse you of fraud.
Courts have been allowing social media posts to be used as evidence and because of this, any posts you make during this time can be used against you. When pursuing your personal injury claim, you will need to supply evidence that supports your claim, with things like medical records, expert testimonies, witnesses of the event, and friends or family that testify exactly how this injury has affected your life. Insurance companies will present any possible evidence to deny your claim in order to take zero responsibility by extensively combing through your social media accounts.
Tips to Follow While Your Personal Injury Claim is Pending
Here are some steps you can take to make sure your social media won’t affect your personal injury claim:
Adjusting Privacy Settings
Even if you have a private account, understand that anything you share online is never really private, but there are still ways to make it a little bit harder to find information about you. It only takes a few minutes to go over your privacy settings on each of your social media accounts. Recommended privacy settings include:
- Who can view your posts
- Review all your existing posts or things you are tagged in
- Change your profile to private
- Who is allowed to send you friend requests
- Who can see your friends or following list
- Who is able to see your email or phone number
- Not allow search engines to link to your profiles
Resist Posting About Your Accident
Social media is one of the first places we turn to when involved with something upsetting and when we get through a troubling situation. Remember that an insurance adjuster still could use this against you. In order to protect your rights and for the best possible outcome from your case, think about what you are posting and if there are any potential issues that it can cause:
- Avoid posting about your case in general, and make sure your friends and family understand they cannot post about your accident or injury either
- Wait to use social media until your case has been completely resolved
- Avoid accepting any new friend requests or any new connections at all while your case is ongoing. Someone from the insurance company, the defense counsel’s firm, or a person connected to the defendant can try to get your information or keep an eye on you for any possible discrepancies.
- Although it may be hard, avoid posting about your frustrations about your case.
Find a Personal Injury Attorney for More Advice About Your Claim
The best thing you can do during your personal injury claim is to avoid social media altogether. This may feel difficult to do, but instead of posting or leaving comments, right now you can just view others’ posts in the meantime. You can update friends and family through the phone or in person about your case instead and give any updates to followers after your case is finished.
Finding a personal injury attorney for your case is also one of the best things you can do for your case. At Hann Law Firm in San Jose, California, we can help you through your personal injury claim and build you the strongest case to receive compensation for your injuries. We are here to protect your rights and give you advice every step of the way with our extensive experience in a wide variety of cases.
Contact us today for seasoned and skilled counsel so you can face your challenges head-on with the support you need.
