Unfortunately, yes. If you were injured because of another party’s negligence, you may be able to file a personal injury claim to receive compensation for your injuries. You can file a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company and/or a civil lawsuit against the negligent party.  But be aware that your social media accounts could have a ruinous impact on the success of any claim or suit. Please do yourself a favor and deactivate (but retain) your social media accounts while you work through your injury.

How Can Social Media Damage a Case?

Once you file an insurance claim or a lawsuit, the insurance adjuster or the attorney representing the defendant will often review your social media accounts, like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The goal is to find posts of you that are inconsistent with your injuries.

Inconsistencies can help an insurer or defendant show that you are:

• Faking your injuries,
• Over-exaggerating the severity of your injuries, or
• Filing a fraudulent claim.

Let’s consider an example. Suppose you are involved in a slip and fall accident where you injure your knee. You claim that the injury drastically limits your mobility and causes moderate pain.

But now imagine that you start posting pictures of yourself on a ski trip on Instagram, or even images of you successfully completing a 5K. These posts are basically evidence for the insurance company and/or the defendant, and the evidence is of tremendous value. The value lies in the fact that the images suggest that you lied about your injuries or exaggerated their severity for there is no way you could ski or run on an injured knee.

Note that insurers or defendants have the ability to respond to your injury claim. They want to try and disprove your injuries in some way so that they don’t have to compensate you. Opposing parties have no hesitation in submitting your social media posts in response to your claim, since they can undoubtedly undermine it.

What Does This All Mean for You?

It is common nowadays to share life updates on social media, especially while injured. However, photos or videos from parties, vacations, and other activities can be used against you if they show you doing more than your doctors allow you to do. Even if there is an explanation for your posts, they can be taken out of context to undermine your injury claim.

Status updates or other posts discussing the incident that led to your injury or treatment can also be used to dispute your story of what happened. In order to ensure full and fair compensation for injuries, it is best to deactivate, but never delete, your social media accounts while a claim is pending. It is also important not to delete any specific posts.

The following is what I advise all my clients in my initial letter concerning representation for a personal injury:

“SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: If you belong to a public social networking account such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, whatever you write or post, or have written or posted, may be obtained by the defense attorney or insurance company.  If you have such a site, you should check your privacy settings and be aware that your posts may be used against you.”

Contact Douglas P. Levinson Today

If you or a loved one was injured in an accident, please know that the law offices of Douglas P. Levinson is here to help. I have been helping injury victims and families receive fair compensation for their personal injury accidents for over 20 years. Let me help you make informed choices about your legal issues so that you can focus on your health and healing.

I am experienced in all aspects of civil disputes and injury claims, and I personally handle or oversee every aspect of your case. Let me shoulder your burden until we achieve a fair and just result for your case. Contact me now for the quality legal help you deserve.