In personal injury cases, insurers may look with interest at your social media content. Don’t let your Facebook or TikTok habits undermine a claim.
For many people, social media has become an essential everyday tool to share information about our lives. Usually, it’s friends and family who look at your social media updates. However, if you are involved in an accident and pursue compensation, the third-party insurers may also start taking an interest in the content you are posting – whether you use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or anything else.
Why would they care?
Put simply, insurers may use your social media content as evidence if anything you post casts doubt on the injuries you have sustained or their severity. They will look to gather all relevant content which they believe could discredit someone who claims their injuries are more limiting than they really are.
This is where people’s tendency to portray their lives positively on social media can become problematic. Two cautionary examples will illustrate this.
Psychological injuries
While physical injuries may be visible in photographs, psychological ones are invisible and are often masked with a smile.
Even though photographs may not necessarily reflect the true extent of an injury, a stream of positive, uplifting content could be used by insurers to refute the extent of psychological injuries. For some pursuers, this could lead to psychological damages being reduced.
How best to manage this
- Remain honest and truthful throughout the life of your claim.
- Insurers are looking to reduce the amount of compensation that is paid out, and social media could be what they need to help them do this. Exercise caution about the content you post to social media after intimating a claim.
- It is especially important to remain vigilant when posting content about any type of physical sport or activity which could give deceptive impressions of the extent of injuries.
Example One
An individual who says they need a walking aid but has recently posted holiday photos of them diving into a pool will more than likely have their claim argued. If such a case were to go to a court hearing, it would be difficult for that person to prove themselves as credible.
Example Two
A claimant may state he has not yet been able to return to work due to his injuries; however, he is pictured on his colleague’s Instagram account working on roofing sheets. The injuries may have been genuine, but he has exaggerated them for a purported loss of earnings claim. In this case, the claim would more than likely be rejected in full.
Lauren Pasi Partner, Personal Injury
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