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An Essential Reminder: Social Media Activity Can Have an Impact on Your Personal Injury Case

If you recently suffered an injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, you could feel anxious and burdened. You can get the money you need to proceed by making a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance provider. You might not be aware, though, that the decisions you make right now could affect your reward.

Did you realize, for instance, that using social media negatively impacts personal injury cases? If you post anything that may be used against you, the insurance company might reject your claim. Even worse, if your case proceeds to court, your use of social media may result in your defeat.

Find out how using social media might hurt your personal injury claim and then contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 to request a free legal consultation.

Your social media posts might be used against you as evidence

You must present proof of your injuries whether filing a lawsuit or a personal injury insurance claim. The bigger the payment you may often anticipate receiving, the worse your injuries are. The legal counsel for the insurance company, however, will also search for proof that refutes your injury claims. These parties could, for instance, examine your open social media accounts for damning text messages, images, and videos.

Everything you publish on social media might be used by the judge to help or hinder your case if you are involved in a lawsuit. As a result, your personal injury lawyer will urge you to exercise extreme caution while posting anything online in the run-up to your case.

The risk of “checking in”

You are undoubtedly dealing with serious injuries that make it difficult for you to work and move around as easily as you would want if you are in the process of a personal injury claim. You must thus demonstrate how your injuries have an impact on your way of life.

On the other hand, “checking in” to specific locations on your Facebook profile can go against your testimony. If, for instance, you have a sore leg and “check in” to a yoga or dancing class, the insurance provider can interpret this as contesting your claim. Even if you did not perform any workouts in these places, they still appear suspicious.

Any place you “checked in” to throughout the case may be used as evidence against you by the defense side. For instance, they could inquire as to “How are you unable to work at a desk job, yet you can sit at a restaurant with a buddy?” after noticing that you recently had dinner with a friend.

Your private social media posts may be accessible to the defense

Even if you believe that only your friends may view the social media postings you make, the insurance company may still be able to access them.

You undoubtedly have at least a few hundred friends or followers on social media, like many other users. You might not personally know all of these followers, thus you are unable to ascertain their motivations. Without your knowledge, a member of the defense team could have followed you on Instagram or asked one of your current followers to share screenshots of your profile.

Although it might appear unlikely, this situation is more common than you might think. As a consequence, even if you think your social media postings are secret, you should refrain from creating them.