Social Media Tips To Protect Your Personal Injury Claim
Posted on June 27, 2022 in Personal Injuries
When you file a personal injury claim or an insurance claim, the insurance company and defense attorney will look through your social media accounts for any evidence that could be incriminating or harmful to your case. Even information and posts which are seemingly innocent can have huge legal consequences and cause big trouble if you are involved in a personal injury claim.
For example, imagine if you posted a picture of you smiling with the caption “feeling better” to suggest that you have recovered from an injury, even though the post was meant to reassure your friends and family. It could result in your injury claim being dismissed because you have fully recovered even though this was not your intention. Thus, here are some social media tips to protect your injury claim.
Don’t Discuss Your Case Online
While it can be tempting to share with your friends how the case is proceeding, you have to be very careful and mindful not to discuss your case online. This is because even seemingly innocent statements can be used against you in the trial. You should also ask your friends and family members to refrain from tagging you in any posts or pictures while your case is ongoing. It is best to keep your social media usage to the bare minimum and to keep your case details private.
Do Not Accept Friend/Follower Requests
During the timeline of your case, it is best to not accept any follower requests as you never know if any of them are attorneys, insurance claim handlers, or related to the case. This is especially if you do not know the person who requests. While it may be tempting to accept a friend request when the trial is ongoing, it is best to postpone it till after the trial.
While the Model Rules of Professional Conduct prevent attorneys from contacting affected parties without the consent of their attorneys, some attorneys and insurance claim handlers may still attempt to contact parties in the lawsuit by sending requests via social media.
Set Your Social Media Account to Private
While the case is still pending, you should set your social media account to private to restrict other people who are not on your followers’ list from viewing your social media account and posts. While it will not guarantee that outside parties cannot view your account, it greatly limits this possibility. Insurance companies and attorneys are ruthless and some will even take advantage of your social media or use your posts to your detriment.
Assume that All Digital Evidence Can Be Recovered
While you may be tempted to post on social media, make online comments or share certain details with your friends online, and delete them afterward assuming that everything will be well, you should not do so as deleted information never really disappears. Companies have ways to track all forms of digital communication and deleted messages, thus you should be very careful, especially when deleting any digital evidence.
Navigate your legal case with a trusted personal injury attorney. Contact us for more information today.