How your online activity can hurt your personal injury case

You’re driving home after a long day at work. Suddenly, a distracted driver in the lane next to you swerves into you—sending your car spinning into oncoming traffic. Miraculously, you survive, but you’re badly shaken and suffering from serious injuries that will take you out of commission for months.

During stressful life events such as these, you may be filled with anger towards the reckless driver and anxiety about your future. It can be tempting to vent your frustrations or seek support on chat forums or social media.

However, following an accident, it’s worth understanding that insurance companies can use what you post online to discredit your personal injury claim. In today’s post, we outline some fundamental do’s and don’ts of social media activity while your personal injury lawsuit is in progress:

• Don’t: post any information about your accident, your recovery or your case online.
• Don’t: upload any videos or photos of yourself. Even a selfie of you looking happy when you claim to be suffering can be a red flag for an insurance adjuster.
• Don’t: disclose your location online. “Checking in” online to a dance club—even if you’re only going to have a drink—can look suspicious if you claim to have a spinal injury.
• Don’t: accept friend requests from people you don’t recognize. Insurance companies may create fake social media profiles to access your personal information and gather evidence against you.
• Do: talk to your friends and family about the above social media restrictions, and ask them to get on board. Your loved ones may want to express their frustration or concern for your case online, but this can be harmful to you.
• Do: ramp up your privacy settings. Make sure only your friends can view your posts. Disable your friends’ ability to “tag” you in their posts.

After an accident, it’s best to take a hiatus from social media until your case concludes. However, following the above guidelines can go a long way in protecting your case.