ADVICE FROM CONSUMER ADVOCATE STAN GREYSON
Social Media After an Auto Accident
AFTER AN ACCIDENT IT IS TIME FOR A HIATUS
The vast majority of Americans use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. In fact, more than 50% of accident victims share details and photos of their incidents on social media. As a result, there are countless stories of lawyers and insurance companies using social media posts against accident victims. Remember, everything you post on social media after an automobile accident can be used against you. My advice? Do not post anything about your accident on social media. In fact, if you want to maximize the potential value of your personal injury case the best thing you can do is to take a total social media hiatus until after your case concludes.
The insurance companies you’re going to be facing employ in-house investigators who utilize powerful tools to review your entire social media footprint and the footprints of your connections, friends, and family. In many cases, accident victims get ‘friend requests’ from several new people shortly after their incidents. These requests are actually from investigators attempting to gain access to your social media accounts. The insurance company’s investigators are skilled at building a narrative of your life that undermines your credibility and damages your injury claim. Of course, the insurance companies claim that they use social media information to reduce ‘insurance fraud’ but in scores of examples, firms invent twisted narratives that do not accurately reflect the truth.
Your best bet is to deactivate each of your social media accounts immediately. You don’t have to delete them as most social media services have an option for pausing them temporarily. If a particular service doesn’t allow you to deactivate and hide your account make sure you enable the privacy settings to prevent anyone but your friends from seeing your account. Remember don’t accept any new friend requests. If you keep your accounts active, but private, you should refrain from posting.
Your lawyer is going to tell you not to share the details of your crash with anyone. Listen to them. It is very important that you don’t send any messages (iMessage, FB Message, Twitter Direct Message, Text, Email, WhatsApp, ect.) about your accident to anyone but your lawyer. There is a good chance that the other side will get copies of these messages and use them to undermine your case. For example, in one case a young woman took a picture of her wrecked car and sent it to her mother with the following note, “I am such an idiot, I can’t believe I wrecked my car again!” Opposing counsel obtained the note in discovery and argued that the message showed that the young woman had admitted blame for the accident and as a result, she should be liable for her own injuries. In another case, the father of a crash victim texted his son the day after his crash asking how he was feeling. His son responded, “Actually, pretty great…” The insurance company used this text to show that the victim’s pain and suffering weren’t significant enough to warrant a settlement. There are scores of examples of social media or private messages that have ruined the personal injury claims of victims. Here are just a few:
- Complaints. Never complain about your insurance company or lawyer. There have been cases where these messages were used to make the victim look vindictive and vengeful and resulted in the loss of compassion from the judge or jury.
- Apologies. Never apologize even if you are sorry. Offering apologies is a cultural norm for most of us even if we’re not at fault. We’re just hardwired to attempt to get along with others and apologies often smooth things over even if we’re not at fault. The problem is that any evidence of an apology can significantly reduce the amount of your settlement.
- Blame. Never admit blame for an accident. Imagine you were sitting at a stoplight and changing the radio station. While you were looking down another car rear-ended you. If you sent a message to your friend describing how you could have moved out of the way if you had been paying attention you may be admitting fault.
- Diminishing. When we’re sick or injured it is common to tell our friends and family we’re doing “okay” even when we’re in a lot of pain. These statements can harm your case. Beyond statements, taking pictures with friends and family after your accident can paint a picture that could mislead a jury. A smiling picture of you at a birthday dinner could disguise the reality that you barely made it out even after taking extra pain relievers and were in pain the entire night.
Social media accounts are particularly harmful to emotional distress claims. Many accident victims experience anxiety, depression, isolation, withdrawal, and loss of enjoyment of life. Social media often allows people to present the best version of their lives. Almost every Facebook timeline is filled with photos of people smiling and enjoying life. We all know that the truth is often far less glamorous and this is especially true for accident victims. Every picture of you will be used as proof that your emotional distress is not significant.
To conclude, you should stay off of social media, deactivate your accounts, and ensure you’ve got the maximum privacy settings enabled. Definitely don’t accept any new friend requests. You should also ask your family and friends to avoid posting anything about you until your case resolves. Don’t share information about your accident or injuries with anyone other than your doctor and lawyer. Be wary of taking calls or returning calls from strangers.
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