Why Social Media Negatively Impacts Claims

Personal Injury Lawyer

Because social media is so easy to use, it is easy to share every thought and life update you have with your friends, family, and followers. While there is nothing wrong with this generally, you may want to be more careful about sharing these updates when you have been in some type of personal injury accident. After an accident, you may want to update everyone to say something like “I’m fine!” or “I’m healing well after my accident!” Though your family may appreciate this update, you may not be considering how this will affect your personal injury case. 

What Can You Do on Social Media After an Accident? 

After you have been in a personal injury accident, it is important to remember one thing: if you want to file a personal injury case, the other party’s insurance company will be looking for every way to get the settlement offer as low as possible. Here are a few things that a lawyer, like a personal injury lawyer in Minneapolis, MN from a law office like Johnston Martineau, PLLP would recommend. 

  • Don’t post on social media. If you want to avoid social media being an issue altogether, simply don’t post about your accident or how you are doing. If you have friends and family who are wondering how you are doing, you can certainly speak with them in private. 
  • Change your privacy settings. If social media is the primary way you contact friends and family, then consider changing your privacy settings while remembering that many people can still access your account even if it is private. 
  • Be careful about what you post. Think of what you are saying when you write your post. While you want to be encouraging to your family if you are recovering, stating that you are feeling better or healing could be something an insurance agent uses against you. If you let everyone know that life will continue on as normal, an adjuster may say you were never really hurt in the first place. 
  • Tell your family not to post about your accident. Your mom, dad, or sibling may want to post on your behalf to update the family on your accident. While they may have only the best of intentions, this is another scenario where an adjuster could see the update and make adjustments to the settlement offer based on what was in the status update. 

It is important that you keep your accident private online. If you want to update anyone, try the old-fashioned route of talking on the phone or meeting up in person. If you are looking for an attorney to help you with your case, call a local office now.