Numerous factors can greatly affect a personal injury case, including the severity of the situation, evidence, statements made by both parties, and more. There is, however, one factor that many people tend to overlook that could potentially ruin a personal injury claim, forfeiting thousands of dollars.
While the social networking world is rapidly evolving, so are lawyers, investigators, adjusters and insurance companies. Many formats of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, and Instagram can be utilized by all opposing parties in a personal injury case to uncover and determine any conflicting statements, possible fraud, exaggeration, or any additional evidence relevant to the case.
Social media sites allow for people to freely discuss and share information about their lives online while posting photos, videos, and discussions. Investigators, defense attorneys, and other parties often strive to uncover as much information as they can in effort to pay you the least possible amount of money. When it comes to a personal injury claim, your social networking activity may give them just what they need to discredit your claim and deny compensation. There are two important factors to consider in a personal injury case: verifying the accident related injuries and the credibility of the injured party. By actively using social media sites and sharing that hard-to-get information, you are simply accommodating those verifications which may hurt your case.
What They See
By sharing photos, videos, and information regarding social events, activities, and vacations, insurance companies may find it beneficial to reveal your engagement in possible physical activity as evidence that you may not be as injured as you claim. Also, posting certain comments concerning activity or other relatable subjects may also be used against you. Whether you or your friends are posting comments or photos and videos that involve you, these items can be misinterpreted and used against you to reduce the value of your personal injury claim.
You may claim to be in excruciating pain, but those photos of you your friend’s barbeque, at the concert, or at your cousin’s wedding may say otherwise; it only takes the determined representative words of others to manipulate a situation far enough to hurt your case.
If you are attempting to carry out a personal injury claim, be cautious about your social media usage not to hide the truth, but to avoid allowing the insurance companies and attorneys to mischaracterize your actions and take something out of context for use against you. The first thing to do is set that social media aside by doing the following:
- Preferably, shut down or suspend all of your social media accounts.
- If you cannot shut down or suspend your accounts, change the privacy setting to private. Avoid becoming friends with anyone you don’t know.
- Never post any comments regarding your personal injury case.
- Avoid posting videos or photos and request that your friends do not post anything with you in it.
- Avoid online discussions including forums, blogs, message boards and other sites.
Social media can play a negative role and may negatively affect your personal injury claim. Photos, videos, tweets, blogs, etc. may be checked by the opposing party in order to downplay your injuries and damage your case. If you need to make a personal injury claim in South Carolina, contact the legal team at George Sink P.A. Injury Lawyers, with offices throughout SC including Myrtle Beach, Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston. For a free consultation, please call us at 888 612-7001!