Personal Injury Case Settlement
After sustaining a personal injury as a result of a car or truck accident in Rancho Cucamonga, California, it can be incredibly tempting to post about it on social media. While our society has become accustomed to sharing intimate aspects of our life online, doing so when you’re in the middle of a personal injury case settlement can be detrimental to your case. Here’s why.
Why Social Media Can Sink Your Personal Injury Case Settlement
Even if you make your account private or delete posts, nothing is ever truly erased off the internet – and insurance adjusters know this. Just like recruiters will look up job applicants on Facebook and Twitter before moving forward with an interview or hiring, insurance adjusters will scour your social media accounts to find a reason to deny or underpay your insurance claim.
Unfortunately, photos and social media posts can be taken out of context. For example, if you post a photo of your car accident on Facebook and someone asks if you’re okay, replying “yes” can be enough reason for the insurance adjuster to claim your injuries aren’t that serious to warrant a compensation claim. Even if you were just replying to a concerned family member or an acquaintance to be polite, it doesn’t matter; don’t say a word. This could be severely damaging to your personal injury claim.
Why Deleting Social Media Is a BAD Idea
Let’s say that you were hosting a birthday party for your daughter at your house. Even though you’re injured and suffering from back and neck pain, you shared photos of the event on your Facebook page. A few hours later, you realize that those photos may have painted a bad image, so you go ahead and delete them to not hurt your personal injury case settlement. Your Rancho Cucamonga personal injury lawyer will tell you that this is actually a bad idea.
Here’s why…
While it may seem like a good idea to remove anything that could be considered damaging to your case, this can actually be considered “spoliation.” Spoliation is known as the destruction of evidence that could be considered relevant to current litigation. Even if your intentions are innocent, this can severely undermine the fairness of ongoing litigation under California law.
What You Should Do Instead
Your injury lawyer will advise you that the best rule of thumb is to stay off social media during the duration of your personal injury case. However, if you can’t for any reason, try to avoid posting and instead limit yourself to just liking other friends’ posts or photos.
You should also be wary of accepting any new friend requests that you receive while your case is going on. While most people tend to not accept friend requests from people they don’t know, that’s not always the case. Keep in mind that any new “friend” requests could be an insurance adjuster trying to sniff out information about your accident and injuries. Don’t accept any new accounts on Facebook or Instagram unless you know them.
You should also ask family, friends, and anyone else who knows about the accident, such as your co-workers to refrain from discussing the accident with you over social media. Also, make sure you never discuss the details of your motor vehicle accident case on social media, bad mouth the other driver involved in the accident, or discuss anything going on with your compensation award or private discussions between you and your Rancho Cucamonga accident attorney.
How an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney Will Help
Did you suffer a personal injury from a motor vehicle accident in Rancho Cucamonga, California? Call the Rancho Cucamonga personal injury attorneys at Sierra Accident Lawyers for a Consultation.
While social media may be one of the most popular pastimes, it can be detrimental to your motor vehicle-related personal injury case settlement. When you’re injured in an accident and already suffering from lost wages and extensive medical bills, the last thing you should do is anything that jeopardizes your ability to collect the compensation you deserve.
If you need help pursuing a claim, our Rancho Cucamonga personal injury lawyers can help you get started. We will advise you on what you should expect from the case, as well as what you shouldn’t do – such as posting on social media – and why it can hurt you.
When you’re ready to get your case started, call a personal injury attorney at Sierra Accident Lawyers at 909-942-7632 or fill out our online contact form to get started. We have years of experience representing motor vehicle accident victims. Let our experienced legal team in Rancho Cucamonga put our experience to work for you.
