If you have had an accident through no fault of your own and were injured, you may be considering making a personal injury claim if you have enough evidence to show that the accident was due to negligence and could have been avoided.
Personal injury claims can be challenging and you must be careful not just to have sufficient evidence of negligence and the financial loss you have suffered, but expect insurance providers representing the party you are suing to try and avoid paying compensation if they can find a way of doing so.
One common way insurers find to discredit your PI claim and avoid paying compensation is to use posts that you have inadvertently made on your social media sites after the date of the accident. It is essential that you understand how mistakes in the way you use your social media posts can damage your opportunity to obtain the compensation you deserve.
Ways that social media posts can ruin your personal injury claim
It’s natural to communicate your experiences, good and bad, on your favorite social media platforms, but when these are available to be monitored publicly, you do have to be very careful of what you post to avoid anything that might conflict with information you have provided with your personal injury claim. Ways that insurers will try and use against you from your posts include the following.
Commenting on the accident itself
Insurers will be carefully examining anything you write or post about the accident itself. Most serious accidents, whether they are car accidents or slip and fall type accidents on public property, can be traumatic and it might seem obvious to let friends and family know about the accident and how it happened, but if you really have to use social media you must be very aware that anything you post may be inspected and any photos or videos that you use or accounts of the accident that contradict what you have stated or included in your claim.
Posting after the accident
Anything you post after the accident may be inspected to see whether injuries you claim you sustained in the accident seem to be confirmed by evidence from your social media sites. The severity of your injuries and the medical documentation you provide with your claim are essential evidence to validate the compensation you are demanding, so any discrepancies that might be apparent from your posts, even if you say things in jest or as a joke may be used by the insurers against you. Photos showing you looking healthy or without physical evidence of injuries you have claimed for will certainly be used to avoid paying compensation.
Posting about your claim
If you inadvertently post about the personal injury case you are pursuing, again insurers if they have access to your posts will be looking for any contradictions with what information you have provided
Can insurers gain access to posts that you thought were private?
Yes, they can in certain circumstances. If insurers think that they can find contradictions or discrepancies in your posts, even if these were thought by you to be only privately visible, they may seek to have them made available through subpoenas, shared contacts, or through seeking to ‘friend’ you in what might seem an innocuous way.
How to avoid damaging your PI case because of social media mistakes
The best way you can avoid providing conflicting evidence when using social media is simply to avoid posting on your sites altogether. If you must, limit your use of social media as much as possible. If you cannot avoid social media sites completely, e.g. through being tagged on someone else’s site, or replying to comments or queries made on your own sites, then be careful to ensure that information you share aligns with any information you have provided or are going to provide in your claim.
If you get a request for a new friend contact, especially if you have often not been careful about these sorts of requests in the past, decline the request unless you are totally sure you know and trust the person who is making the request.
Deleting social media posts after they have been created is another potential mistake. Deleting posts, if detected, may be construed as destroying conflicting evidence. Deleted posts may still be visible when archived, and may be requested through a subpoena if insurers are digging their heels in on a case.
Of course, if you are normally a prolific user of social media user, going completely quiet online suddenly may alarm friends and family, but there are other more secure ways with which you can contact them, such as email, phone or writing a letter or card, without potentially being visible to others.
Legal advice should be sought from a PI attorney about your case
It is sensible to contact an experienced personal injury attorney before filing a claim and discussing the evidence you have about the accident and how you should use or avoid using social media if you decide to go ahead with a claim. It is best to arrange a consultation with an attorney before you use any social media sites so you don’t compromise your claim by doing so. The attorney can review the evidence you have that could support your case, give an opinion about whether the claim is likely to succeed, provide valuable advice about obtaining more evidence and advise how to use or not use existing social media sites you are on.
For more information, visit our website or contact us for a free initial legal consultation today.