Can Your Social Media Impact Your Personal Injury Claim?

Can Your Social Media Impact Your Personal Injury Claim?

Social media is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, and a big part of life for many people. We can share our thoughts, opinions, photos, and updates about our lives with everyone we know, and it hardly takes any effort. If you have been injured, you may wish to share details of your injury and recovery on social media to update friends on the status. However, doing so may negatively affect your claim, even if you are very careful with what you post.

It is difficult for others to determine the amount of pain and suffering you are experiencing, so those you are filing a claim against will seek out your social media profiles to find “evidence”. If there is something on your profile that can discredit your claim, it will be used to minimize your damages. The insurance company wants to make you seem less credible so they can pay you less, and they will try to find ways to do that. Even if you have high privacy settings, there are still ways your information can be accessed.

Let’s say that you had an accident which caused a back injury, and you are now unable to do many things you used to enjoy. If you are posting pictures of yourself dancing, or holding a small child, or even smiling with friends, the insurance company can use these to diminish your claim. They can argue that your back is not as injured as you say it is (even though it very well may be, and you could still be in excruciating pain). The photo of you out with friends could be evidence that “you’re too happy to be suffering”, when in reality you could be putting on a happy face for social media, despite your crippling pain.

You typically want to show your best side on social media. Unfortunately, these moments of happiness could be used as evidence that you appear to be happier than you claim to be.

If you have a personal injury claim, it is best to stay off social media until your case has been settled. Make sure your friends and family are aware not to tag you or discuss your case or your current activities. Search through your past posts and make sure nothing is there that could be found to harm your case. Perhaps you made a complaint about your back being sore months before the accident. That could be used as evidence that the accident did not cause the pain, so you could receive less for your settlement.

Have a personal injury claim? Contact an experienced St. Petersburg personal injury attorney at Jones Law Group today. When you contact our office we will immediately either put you on the phone with one of our attorneys, or set an appointment where you will meet your attorney and be provided with his/her contact information. If you do not have transportation or you cannot drive, your attorney will travel to meet you and discuss your case with you. Call an experienced personal injury attorney in St. Petersburg at Jones Law Group at (727) 571-1333 during regular business hours or (727) 753-8657 on weekends or after regular business hours. We will evaluate your case for free and you will never pay us a dime unless we recover compensation for your injuries.

Jones Law Group
5622 Central Avenue
St. Petersburg, FL 33707