As soon as an insurance company has been notified that you have been injured in an accident, they will immediately go to work to defend against your claim. This means that they will start looking for ways to avoid having to pay you for your injuries. Today, a big part of what they do from the start is to scour the internet to see if you are involved in social media.
For some reason, people seem to think that they have to post everything about their life on social media. While this is generally harmless, when you have a claim for personal injuries this can come back to bite you. You see, when you make a claim for personal injuries, your life and activities before the accident, and after, will be heavily scrutinized by the insurance company. So, pictures you have posted (and posts you have written) from your various trips and events now become relevant in determining how to value your injury.
How Can I Prevent My Social Media From Destroying My Florida Personal Injury Claim?
While we, as attorneys, would prefer that you stay completely off social media once you have been injured, this is not always possible. Accordingly, below are some tips to protect you when using social media.
DON’T POST ABOUT YOUR ACCIDENT OR YOUR PAIN
People will naturally talk with their friends and family different than they would if they were to give a statement to an insurance company or a deposition in a lawsuit. Because of this, there may naturally be some differences in what you may post on social media versus what you may tell an insurance adjuster or a lawyer in a personal injury lawsuit.
In addition, the insurance company will use what otherwise may appear to be innocuous photos of you that you have posted against you. For example, a photo of you at the beach smiling will be used to show that you can’t be injured, even though you may be in pain while the photo was taken.
RESTRICT YOUR PRIVACY SETTINGS TO FRIENDS ONLY
Although this is not a guarantee that the insurance company won’t be able to view your social media, it is the best step you can take to try and prevent it. DO NOT DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT as this may be viewed as destroying evidence.
DON’T FRIEND ANYONE YOU DON’T KNOW
Insurance companies will commonly try to sneak into your circle of friends. Unfortunately, many people simply accept friend requests from people they don’t know, or people they think are friends with other people they do know. This should be avoided. If you don’t personally know the person, don’t accept the request.
KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TAGGED IN
It is important to know what your friends are also posting that you may be tagged in. These posts can easily be taken out of context and used against you.
It is important to know that even if you take the measures listed above to try and protect your social media, there is still a good chance that the insurance company will get the information in a lawsuit if one is filed. So please be very careful during the entire duration of your claim and lawsuit.
To avoid making any mistakes on social media that can damage or destroy your Florida personal injury claim, it is important to hire an experienced Ruskin personal injury attorney to protect your rights.
Free Information
If you have questions about your Florida accident case, you can download our Free Reports:
which are available on our website, or you can click the link provided. You can also contact us at (813)419-3866 to talk directly to a Ruskin personal injury attorney now.