How social media use can hurt your auto injury claim

Being injured in an auto accident is frustrating. If you sustain serious injuries in a crash, you can spend days in the hospital and need extensive physical therapy. At points, you may want to use social media to update friends and family on how you are doing. However, you could inadvertently post information that could hurt your injury claim.

First, you need to realize that whatever you post on social media can be used against you in court. Many times, accident victims post information they don’t realize will damage their case.

Here are three ways you could post information on social media that could undermine your personal injury claim:

1. You contradict your own testimony in your case. If you claim you broke your leg, needing months to recover, posting photos of yourself participating in a 5K will make it look like your injury wasn’t as severe as you claim.
2. Your check-ins show you were someplace where you could be participating in activities that your injury would make difficult. For example, your injury claim notes that you had a major spinal injury, but then, there’s a check-in for you at a bungee-jumping company. Why were you there? Did you jump and thus really didn’t have the injury you claimed?
3. You may post a photo that puts your injury in doubt. You may post a photo of your children downhill skiing. However, as part of your personal injury claim, that photo could force you to answer if you took it. If you did, your injury claim could suffer because you may have to admit you were skiing even though you claimed to have a significant knee injury in your accident.

To avoid having your social media posts impact your personal injury claim, you can do the following:

• Deactivate your social media accounts until you and your personal injury attorney settle your case.
• If you can’t do that, delete social media apps from your phone so you avoid making any hasty posts.
• Avoid accepting any new friend requests.
• Avoid posting photos or giving any information about your injury claim.
• Make your social media profile private.

When you face an injury after a vehicle accident, you want to do all you can to get maximum compensation. You need to realize how social media use can undercut your claim and avoid making any posts that could put your personal injury claim in doubt.