How Your Social Media Activity Affects Your Personal Injury Case

## Why Insurance Companies Investigate Your Social Media After an Accident

Insurance defense investigators routinely monitor the social media accounts of personal injury claimants as part of their surveillance strategy. A single photograph, check-in, or status update that appears inconsistent with your claimed injuries can be used to challenge the severity of your damages or argue that you were not actually impaired.

Insurance adjusters have successfully used social media posts to reduce or eliminate multi-million dollar injury claims — do not assume that privacy settings protect you from professional investigators.

Social Media Rules Your Injury Lawyer Will Give You

As soon as you hire a personal injury attorney, one of their first pieces of advice will involve your online activity. Follow these rules strictly from the moment of your accident.

• Do not post photos of yourself engaged in physical activity, even if you feel temporarily better
• Do not check in to locations that contradict your claimed activity limitations
• Do not discuss your accident, injuries, treatment, or case on any platform
• Do not accept new friend requests from unknown individuals during active litigation
• Do not delete existing posts or photos — this can constitute spoliation of evidence
• Set all accounts to maximum privacy, but understand this is not a complete shield
• Inform family members and close friends not to tag you or post about your accident on your behalf

Your attorney will advise you specifically based on the content already on your accounts. The golden rule: before posting anything during the life of your case, ask yourself whether you would be comfortable with an insurance defense attorney presenting it to a jury. If not, do not post it.