Should I Post to Social Media About My Car Accident?

September 22, 2020 | Uncategorized

The aftermath of a vehicle accident can be a confusing and scary experience for everybody involved. Car accident victims are often left dealing with emergency medical conditions, vehicle damages, and aggressive insurance carriers. Often, victims of car accidents take to social media to let family and friends know what happened to them. While this may seem like a natural thing to do, especially as many of us share so much of our lives online, this type of posting could have disastrous consequences on personal injury cases or injury settlement from an insurance carrier and can impact the claims process.

How Should I Handle Social Media After a Car Accident?

Social media sites are everywhere, and you will be hard-pressed to find anybody of any age who does not have some type of social media. This could include social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, various blogs, and more. However, most people do not understand just how visible their lives become when they post on social media. Even the most tech-savvy individuals may not realize that their privacy settings do not protect them in all scenarios. While you may think that only your close friends or family can see the posts that you make, that is certainly not the case. All it takes is one person commenting, liking, or sharing your post for information to become visible to those outside of your network. Insurance adjusters and defense attorneys working for the insurance carriers have become very used to the idea of searching social media for evidence that can be used to reduce any settlement they pay out for your claim. It is important to remember that insurance carriers are typically “for-profit” entities that do not want to make large payouts that cut into their bottom line. A social media post is going to give insurance carriers or attorneys for the at-fault party ammunition to use against you. They will use any sentences you write in a social media post or any photos that you take at the scene of the accident or in the days following against you if possible. For an example of how a social media post could be used against you, let us look at a few scenarios:

• Suppose you get struck by another vehicle and claim significant neck or back pain that prevents you from working. Yet, two weeks after the crash, you post pictures of you participating in a pick-up basketball game. You can almost be certain that the adjuster at the insurance company will use this against you. They will claim that you were never really injured, and they could deny some or all of your settlement for medical bills. In these cases, activities do not have to be something as strenuous as a basketball game. Posting something as innocent as you planting your garden could be evidence enough for an insurance carrier to deny your claim.
• Suppose you get into an accident and give your initial report about what happened to law enforcement at the scene of the crash. Now, suppose you get on social media and “embellish” one or two minor factors about the incident. If an insurance carrier or attorney for the at-fault party sees your post and notices that it does not line up with the police report, this could be used as evidence against you.

The bottom line is that you need to go silent on social media in the aftermath of a car accident claim until a settlement has been paid for a personal injury claim. Avoid posting anything that can potentially be used against you. If there are people and family members that need to know that you have been in an accident, call them and let them know. Do not blast your personal information and share details all over the internet for other parties to see. If you are curious about what to, and what not to do, after a car accident, please contact our truck accident attorney in Austin.