Can Social Media Hurt my Buffalo Personal Injury Case?

Snapping, texting, tweeting – these are part of everyday life and if you’re like most people, you document most of your life on social media platforms. These sites are fun, easy to use, and a great way to share things with your friends and family all at once.

Social media can have pitfalls, though – depending on your privacy settings, your life is online, available for anyone with an internet connection to see. If you’ve been involved in a car accident, your first reaction may be to post about it online, including pictures. Your personal injury lawyer can tell you that limiting your social media presence after an accident will help you pursue a claim. One careless photo or tweet may call your claim into question, especially if the insurance company chooses to take it to trial or mediation.

If you aren’t the person at fault for the accident, you have a claim against the other driver’s insurance company, including payment for lost wages at work, medical bills, and repairing or replacing your vehicle. The personal injury attorney you hire to represent your case can help guide you about posting and improve your chance of recovering fair compensation.

Your Social Media May Not Be Private

Even though you may set your privacy settings very strictly, nothing that you put online is truly private. Personal injury cases include gathering information, for both sides. Just as the team at The Law Offices of William Mattar is gathering evidence of the injuries you received after an accident, so also are the other party’s insurance company and their lawyers. Pulling photos and posts from your social media is a common place for these defense attorneys to start.

The other driver’s insurance company can track your posts and even something that looks truly innocent can be used to attempt to derail your claim.

What Is the Other Driver’s Insurance Company Looking For?

Insurance companies are in the business of making money, not paying out large claims. There are a few areas defense lawyers will look at regarding your claim: how legitimate your injuries are, whether you’re credible, and whether or not these injuries came as a result of the wreck.

Social media comments and photos can work either for or against you, but a skilled lawyer can turn just about anything into evidence against your claim. Photos and texts can be taken out of context and presented to a judge as evidence against your claim.

Although you may have ongoing injuries after the accident, you still have activities that go on in daily life. Attending a wedding, your child’s sports events, or a family reunion may be physically taxing for you, but one photo of you standing unassisted, laughing seemingly free of pain, can put your injury claim into question.

Your personal injury lawyer may advise you to:

• Try to stay off social media until your claim is resolved
• Don’t post anything about your claim on social media
• Don’t post any photos from the crash or yourself afterward on social media
• Remember that even with privacy settings, the other driver’s insurance company may still be able to see what you post

Pursuing a fair settlement after a car accident can be complicated. Don’t try to take in a big insurance company on your own – instead, contact the Law Offices of William Mattar, a Buffalo personal injury attorney that has years of experiences fighting for his clients at the mediation table and in a court of law. If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident, give us a call at (844) 444-4444 today to file a claim.