If you or somebody you care about has been injured or sustained property damage caused by the negligent actions of another individual or entity, there are various ways that you may be able to recover compensation for your losses. This can include recovery of compensation through an insurance settlement, or this could involve filing a civil lawsuit against the at-fault party. However, what you post on social media after an injury occurs could be used against you in court. Here, we want to discuss the importance of carefully using social media after sustaining an injury and while your case is ongoing.
Social Media Can Hurt Your Injury Claim
You need to know that anything you post on social media could be used against you in court when it comes to your injury claim against another party. Even if you are the person who filed the claim against another individual or entity, your posts on social media could be a problem.
It is not uncommon for individuals who sustain an injury to want to post about it on social media as soon as possible. In fact, we are willing to bet that you have seen social media videos taken at the side of the road right after an accident occurs.
We strongly encourage any person who has been injured to refrain from posting anything on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, a personal blog, or anywhere else on the Internet. There are various ways that posting on social media can harm a claim. You can be sure that insurance carriers and legal teams for the other party will work to uncover your social media posts if they think they can weaken your claim and payout less compensation.
You have to give statements to law enforcement officials and insurance carriers after an accident occurs. The other parties will look for holes in your story, and one way they can do this is to examine any social media posts that you make about the incident. If something that you told law enforcement officials or the insurance carrier does not line up with what you are posting online, this could be used against you in court.
Additionally, sometimes even innocuous postings could harm your claim. Suppose, five days after an accident occurs, you post something about going to a ball game with your children. However, if you have claimed a serious injury, you can be sure that insurance carriers will use your posting to claim that you could not possibly be as injured as you say you are if you are going to a ball game period
Even if you think your social media posts are private, they are not. All it takes is for one friend or family member to comment on or share the post for the whole world to suddenly have access. Any personal injury lawyer in Pennsylvania, including us, will tell you to refrain from posting on social media until after your personal injury claim has concluded.
Contact a Car Accident Lawyer Immediately
If you or somebody you care about has been injured due to the negligent actions of another driver in the Philadelphia area, you need to reach out to an attorney immediately. A skilled Philadelphia personal injury lawyer will fully investigate every aspect of the claim and work diligently to gather the evidence needed to prove liability. Additionally, an attorney will help guide you through the process and let you know what is acceptable and what is not, including posting about the incident on social media.