How Social Media Can Ruin Your Car Accident Claim

Following a car crash, it’s natural for you to want to tell others about the accident. If you were injured and are in the process of recovery, it may be especially tempting to let others know how you’re doing. However, the dangers of sharing too much information about your car accident often exceed the benefits, especially in cases where an insurance company adjuster reads your social media posts.

Unfortunately, anything you write online, including content on most social media platforms, can—and most likely will—be used against you by an insurance company when they’re evaluating your claim. At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we’ve seen first-hand the damage a social media post can cause to an individual who has submitted a claim.

Before you hit send, we implore you to seek out an experienced Ohio personal injury attorney. At KNR, we can give you a better understanding of what’s safe—and what’s not safe—to share online. Call us today at 1-800-HURT-NOW to find out how we can help you.

5 Ways Social Media Can Ruin Your Car Accident Claim

1. Incriminating photographs—Photographs of your vehicle or the other party’s vehicle may contradict information you provide in your claim. An adjuster could use those pictures as evidence to deny your claim.
2. Too much information—Sharing your remorse about being in an accident or how you’re feeling post-crash could be to your detriment, especially in cases where your sadness is misread as an admission of fault.
3. Contradictory statements—If you make a tweet or Facebook post with information about the accident or your own injuries that contradicts information you supplied when you filed your claim (e.g. even a message as simple as, “Thank goodness I’m all right”), an insurance adjuster could use this statement as evidence that works against your claim.
4. Hurtful messages—Seemingly innocuous comments made by you or friends can come back to haunt you in cases where they paint a bad picture of you as a person or driver. If a friend jokingly messages to say, “You had it coming,” such a message could be interpreted to mean that you’ve historically been unsafe behind the wheel.
5. Location tracking—Insurance companies even go so far as to track your location following an accident through social media platforms. Foursquare and Yelp, for example, include information about where a person has most recently visited. If an insurance adjuster sees that you’ve been taking part in extreme sporting activities following your injury claims, he or she could use your participation—even if you were just an observer—as a reason to deny or limit your claim.

How an Experienced Ohio Personal Injury Attorney at Kisling, Nestico & Redick Can Help You

It’s important to take steps toward safeguarding your online identity and social media accounts in today’s digital age—especially when it comes time to file your personal injury claim. To do so, you’ll want to refrain from posting anything related to your accident, delete posts and messages that could be used to limit your claim, refrain from using location-tracking applications, and increase your privacy settings.

At KNR, we’ve seen too many cases of claims being limited due to the use of social media. If you’ve been injured in a car accident, contact one of the skilled Ohio personal injury attorneys at Kisling, Nestico & Redick today. We can help you to file and claim and ensure that nothing you post online can be used against you. For a free initial evaluation of your case, call us at 1-800-HURT-NOW today.