How can social media hurt my case?
Guess what? Insurance adjusters are looking at your information on these sites, too. They are trying to find any information they can use to deny your claim or limit its value. Adjusters are involved in internet surveillance. For example, if you post about playing basketball the day after an accident, this could be used to disprove the severity of your injury. Photos you upload can be damaging as well. A little bit of information can be taken and distorted by the insurance company if you are not careful.
Tips for using social media during your case
If you insist on using social media during your case, here are a few simple rule you can follow:
- Check your Privacy Settings. Some social media sites, like Facebook, will allow you to make your personal information and posts private. In Facebook, this means that only people on your friend list will be able to view your status updates. You can go even further by creating friend lists with specific privacy policies applied to them.
- When uploading photos, be selective on which ones are appropriate. If possible, set up filters so that only your friends can view your photo albums.
- Only accept friend requests from people you actually know. An insurance adjuster may send you a friend request in hopes of gaining access to your personal information. Best bet is to not add any new friends until your case is concluded.
- Do not join groups with compromising names and/or discussions.
- If possible, block certain people from viewing your profile.
- For Facebook users, you cannot edit what information appears in your public search listing. However, you can opt out of this feature from the “Applications and Websites” section of your main Privacy Settings page.
- Keep your case private. Do not post any photos of your accident or give any information regarding your case.
People are looking at your information
Remember, the insurance adjuster and opposing attorney on your case will be searching for incriminating details regarding you and your case. They do this for a living and can be very good at it. It would be in your best interest to close down your social media sites during your case. This will ensure that you don’t post any information that can be twisted into something incriminating.
As a Kentucky Accident Attorney, I have seen first-hand what happens when people post something on social media and it ends up hurting their case. The point is to be careful. If you have been in an accident, make sure to monitor what you share online. You may think it’s an innocent post, but that post could come back to hurt you in your accident case. Be aware of what you are doing. A good friend of mine said, “Don’t say or do anything that you would not be comfortable with seeing in the paper tomorrow.” The same can be said with the social networking sites. Please be mindful about what you are posting.