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How Social Media Can Affect Your Personal Injury Claim

Have you ever looked at your Facebook account and are shocked at the content that one of your friends has “shared”? Almost everyone uses some type of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, or Snapchat, to name a few. Unfortunately, people do not always use common sense when posting different items on social media platforms, and their posts, tweets, or images can cause them a great deal of trouble. Lawyers, insurance companies, and employers regularly scan social media sites for information about people that can be used against them, including in legal matters like divorce and family law cases. This also can be the case if you use social media in certain ways in the midst of your personal injury claim.

First, avoid posting pictures of your damaged vehicle online. If previous photos show that your car was already dented on the rear right side, and you now are claiming that your accident caused the dent, you may not only be undermining your claim for damages, but you also may be committing insurance fraud. The same goes for pictures or videos of yourself engaging in certain activities that involve a fair amount of physical movement. If you are claiming in your personal injury suit that your neck and back are permanently damaged due to your injuries, then a video of you riding the newest roller coaster at your local amusement park will not exactly help your claim. Likewise, posting pictures of you and your family spending a weekend camping and hiking in rough terrain at the same time as you are claiming severe foot damage in your personal injury claim is not helpful. In fact, pictures such as these may be downright fatal to your claim.

The bottom line is that insurance companies often will seize upon any bit of evidence that will help them deny your claim or pay out less than your claim is really worth. What is intended as innocent posts or pictures on Instagram can come back to haunt you in your personal injury claim, and make it much harder to get compensation for your injuries, even if the other party clearly was at fault. For more information about how to properly handle your personal injury claim, contact the Wisconsin personal injury lawyers of Boller & Vaughan today.