Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms have become ingrained in our everyday lives. We post updates. We check updates. We scroll. Because of how our social media habits have become so strong, you may feel hesitant to take what we are about to say to heart. If you are in an accident, avoid social media for as long as possible. It would be best to avoid it altogether until your claim is settled. This may sound drastic, but it is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself and the validity of your claim. Let’s talk about why that is so.
Why You Should Avoid Social Media After an Accident
After an accident, you may turn to social media for support. After all, it is an online community that can be comforting after a traumatic experience. You may go on social media to let friends and family members know about what has happened. This, however, is not a great idea. Posting about the accident can leave you incredibly vulnerable to investigations launched by the insurance company for the at-fault party.
Think about the kind of things that you may post on social media when talking about the accident. You may tell everyone you are “okay.” Innocuous enough, right? Not really. Dismissing the harm you have suffered by saying you are okay could be turned around by the insurance company to say that you were clearly not injured as you may claim to be. Talking about the details of the accident such as saying, “the car came out of nowhere,” could be misconstrued by the insurance company as you admitting that you were not paying attention to the road or you were clearly engaging in distracted driving. This may seem ridiculous to you, but take it from people who have fought insurance companies again and again, they will use whatever they can to undermine your claim.
People also run into trouble with social media use after an accident by posting every day happenings. Do you post pictures of a weekend kayak adventure? Did you update your friends about a trip you just took? An insurance company will do what they can to access your social media posts and find this type of thing. They will point to these outings and claim that you clearly have not been too severely injured by the accident and obviously the accident hasn’t had much of an impact on you. It may seem like a leap for you, but this is what happens.
If you think your privacy settings are too secure for insurance companies to access your social media posts, then you may want to think again. Privacy settings can be tricky and insurance companies have ways of circumventing them. This is why it is always the safest bet to forego use of social media while you have an injury claim pending. If this is something that you are unwilling to do, then at least limit your social media use and refrain from posting about your accident. Do not accept friend requests from anyone you do not know and use social media thoughtfully.
Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorneys
At Cooper, Schall & Levy, we know the insurance company tricks and we fight to hold them accountable. We stand up for the injured to help ensure they are fairly compensated for the harm they have suffered. Contact us today.
