Blog
Read Time: 2 Min

How Social Media Sites Hurt Your Personal Injury Claim

February 28, 2015

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter, have the potential to damage your claim for a personal injury. Insurance companies and claim agents will use Google, Yahoo, and other search engines to access these sites and find information they can use against you, including posts or pictures about how the accident happened, who caused it, who was at fault, and its effects—even posts that have nothing to do with the accident.

We strongly recommend taking down all individual social networking sites while your claim is being pursued.  But, if you choose not to, you should at least take the following precautions:

Immediately make your profile “private,” and set all privacy settings to the highest level.

DO NOT DISCUSS YOUR ACCIDENT, injuries, or treatment, including any prescribed medication, on these sites.

DO NOT discuss activities you’ve been engaged in, physical exertion, abilities, and limitations, or any other information that may bear on what you can and cannot do because of your injuries—even in an unrelated way to your lawsuit.

Remove all photographs and videos of you taken since your injury, and refrain from posting until your claim has been resolved.

Be sure you know everybody who is your “friend.” DO NOT accept friend requests from people you do not personally know.

Review your friend list and block anyone you are not 100 percent confident you know and trust. The Defendant could pose as a friend to access your personal page or to place or obtain incriminating evidence that could negatively affect your lawsuit.

If you have any questions or need further information feel free to contact us.