After you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may be tempted to communicate what happened using social media platforms such as Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube. It’s possible you have friends and family who live in other states, and posting about your accident and providing updates about your condition can give many people quick information about your situation.
However, the experienced Kansas City car accident attorneys at Peterson & Associates, P.C. understand that posting on social media can put your personal injury claim at risk and actually damage your case. Insurance companies actively monitor the social media accounts of accident victims, looking for information they can use to reduce or deny compensation. Even a simple photo with friends or an update about your recovery could undermine your efforts to obtain compensation. Here, we explain why it’s important to stay away from social media after you’ve been injured in a crash.
Your Social Media Activity: Insurance Companies Will Monitor You
Insurance adjusters know that social media can provide information about the daily life of an accident victim. And because insurance companies are for-profit businesses, they want to pay you as little in compensation as possible. To do that, they may use social media evidence for the following purposes:
- Dispute your claim. They may use any post or photo to argue that you’re not as seriously injured as you say or that you’re exaggerating or misrepresenting your injuries. For example, suppose you post a picture of yourself with a group of friends smiling and laughing, or there’s a photo of you playing tennis when your injury claim cited migraines due to the accident. The insurance company may dispute the seriousness of your injuries.
- Challenge your credibility. If you post pictures that show you can still leave your house and participate in activities, the insurance company may challenge your claim of severe pain or disability. For example, suppose you post photos at a restaurant, celebrating a birthday, or entering a theatre, but your personal injury claim includes “loss of enjoyment of life.” The insurance company might say you’re still able to participate in your preferred activities.
- Reduce your compensation. They could use your social media activity to justify offering a lower settlement or denying your claim altogether. If the insurance company and defense attorney can use your social media to challenge your credibility or call into question the severity of your injuries, your case could be damaged.
It’s important to remember that insurance adjusters will scrutinize anything you post, including, photos and information you give about your activities and places you go. Even comments your friends might make about your accident can be used or misconstrued to contradict the seriousness of your injury. They may find photos of you from years before the accident, or they may use recent photos that don’t reflect your current injuries.
Of course, what the photos and posts don’t show is how much pain you were in at the time or the medication you had to take just to be able to engage in the photo or the event. Also, pictures may not capture your leg in a cast or the help you needed to get into a building.
Additionally, giving updates about the progress of your recovery and/or medical treatment might contradict your injury claims. The insurance company could cherry-pick certain posts that show your improvement and ignore posts about the issues you’ve faced and your setbacks.
Don’t Rely on Private Posts
You may think that using privacy settings will protect your social media activity from being discovered. However, our attorneys have seen insurance companies use a variety of ways to access "private" content, including the following:
- They may send ‘friend requests’ from fake profiles, so they can view your posts. Even if you decline these requests, they can still see posts your friends and family share publicly.
- During the legal discovery process, they can request access to your social media accounts and archived content. Courts generally view social media posts as relevant evidence that must be shared.
- Insurance companies may monitor the accounts of your friends and family members who post about your accident or recovery. A well-meaning relative's post about your improving condition could contradict your injury claims.
Why Insurance Companies Can Access Your Private Social Media
The attorneys at Peterson & Associates, P.C. often explain to clients that privacy settings don't make social media posts confidential or privileged. Courts typically view social media content as discoverable evidence that must be shared during legal proceedings, regardless of privacy settings. Thus, social media posts can be used as evidence in a personal injury case. When you file a claim, you put your physical and emotional condition at issue. Thus, the defense has a right to evidence that could support or contradict your claims about the extent of your injuries, as well as the following:
- The ways your injuries impact your daily life
- The physical limitations you face and your recovery progress
- The state of your emotional and mental state
- The activities you enjoy that have been impacted because of the accident
Know the Legal Process: How the Insurance Company Obtains Your Private Posts
Insurance companies and defense attorneys can access your private social media content in the following ways:
Friend lists and photos. They can view your content through mutual connections or gather screenshots from people who have access to your accounts.
Formal discovery requests. Both the insurance company and defense attorney can demand copies of posts, photos, messages, and account activity during a specific timeframe, even if they are posted privately. Usually, the court requires you to comply with these requests if the content is deemed relevant.
Subpoenas to social media companies. They may subpoena platforms such as Instagram and Facebook directly to obtain archived posts and account data, even if you've deleted content.
Accident Claims: the Dos and Don’ts of Social Media
After your accident, the most important thing you can do for your personal injury claim is to take a break from social media. However, for some people, that’s not easy to do. So, if you still feel it’s necessary to post to social media platforms, please consult with your lawyer about what is and isn’t safe to post. Here are our guidelines to help avoid mistakes that could damage your case:
- Don’t accept new friends or followers. It may be hard to believe, but insurance companies may friend request you as a trick to gain access to your content. It’s wise to be cautious of any new requests after the accident.
- Don’t post any information about your injury or the accident. Even though it’s tempting to tell your friends and family about what’s happened to you, and there’s a certain level of convenience in doing so through social media, it’s important that you not give information about the crash and your injuries. Keep all details to yourself.
- Don’t delete posts or profiles. You may feel compelled to delete your social media account or delete some past posts, but it’s best that you don’t. Doing so can cause potential legal issues.
- Don’t post photos of yourself. Don’t post pictures or videos of yourself, especially if you’re engaging in sports or physical activities like mowing the lawn or using the body part you claim is injured. The insurance company could argue that you’re not as injured as you claim. Even if you can still be active with your injury, the insurance company will still use the photo against you.
- Don’t post pictures or information about your medical condition. Posting about your symptoms, treatments, or medical appointments can be used to question the severity of your injuries. Additionally, if you post about your recovery, the insurance company can suggest that you’re recovering faster than you should. This might give the impression that you’re stretching the truth about the extent of the injuries.
- Don’t discuss your case with other people. It’s only natural that you want to discuss your accident and injuries with friends and family. However, the comments you make to others can be misconstrued, misinterpreted, and used against you by the insurance company. For example, if you tell someone that you have an aggressive attorney who’s won many cases, and that person posts your conversation on social media, it may suggest that you’re only interested in a big payout rather than a fair settlement.
- Don’t let your friends post about the accident. Ask your friends and family not to post anything about the accident or your injuries—not even a simple comment that you’ve been in a crash. Anything they write can be used against you.
Also, remember that social media isn’t the only way that insurance companies and defense attorneys can gather evidence against you. They may also conduct surveillance, interview witnesses, or request medical records. However, social media can be a particularly easy source of evidence because it’s public and accessible on any device.