Can Social Media Really Affect My Virginia Car Accident Claim?

After being injured in a Virginia car accident, it is normal to reach out to family and friends for emotional support, assistance, or just to blow off some steam about the day’s events. When you talk about your car accident on Instagram, Facebook, or other social media sites, you are making public comments that could be used to undervalue or devalue your legitimate claim. You are making yourself vulnerable to disputes with the insurance carrier or even the dismissal of your claim altogether. 

It is crucial to understand that posting on any social media platform after an accident could cause serious harm to your case. Following a car accident, you need to do everything you possibly can to present the best case possible if you hope to collect financial compensation for your injuries and other damages. At this point, you are probably wondering what you can post and say on your social media accounts after an accident. The answer is nothing. 

Rather than posting pictures and making comments that will invariably jeopardize your claim, speak with an experienced Virginia car accident attorney at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp to learn more about the best way to handle your case.

How Can Social Media Sites Impact My Virginia Car Accident Claim?

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Insurance carriers monitor social media platforms. After you file a claim, odds are good that a representative from the company or the opposing party is going to look you up on various social media sites. Some of the ways your posts on social media can hurt your case include:

Posting About Your Activities

Details regarding your activities may be used to argue you aren’t really injured.

A picture of you on vacation, in your garden, or even enjoying a backyard barbecue with your family could be used as proof that your injuries are not as serious as you are making them out to be, even if you were just looking at your garden or were actually in pain throughout the cookout.  

Making Comments About Your Accident

Any comments about your accident could be taken as an admission of guilt.

Determining liability in a Virginia car accident can be contentious. Your offhand remarks about what happened,  such as “He came out of nowhere” or “My bad!” may be interpreted by the insurance company and opposing counsel to mean that you are conceding fault, even if you were not legally liable for the crash.

Excessive Posting

Over-posting is often used to assert that victims obviously did not suffer any emotional trauma. 

Car accidents can be scary. The pain and emotional distress of severe injuries are often devastating. If you appear to be happily participating and interacting with people on your social media accounts as though nothing happened, an insurance provider will most likely argue that the accident did not have the serious emotional ramifications you are claiming and that you are not entitled to damages for emotional trauma.

Revealing Confidential Information

Talking about your case, especially in a public forum such as social media, might invalidate the confidentiality of your information. 

Any confidentiality safeguards, like those that exist between you and your lawyer, no longer apply. Since accident cases typically involve sensitive financial and medical information, it is a good idea to keep any updates to yourself.

Criticizing the Insurance Company

Bad-mouthing, blaming, attacking, or criticizing the insurance company can be seen as a signal of bad faith.

It is understandable that you may feel the need to vent your frustrations while embroiled in a protracted insurance battle. If you post your frustrations online, however, the insurance carrier could try to say that you aren’t negotiating in good faith so they shouldn’t have to negotiate with you at all. Even if your social media accounts are set to ‘private’ or ‘friends only,’ anything you post has the potential to be seen by the insurance company or others who are in a position to use your own post against you and deny your claim. 

Your Private Profile Isn’t Private

You may have been told that making your accounts private will prevent anyone from seeing and using what you post against you in a courtroom. This is simply not true. 

Restricting access to your social media pages does not prevent the defense from gaining access to them. Attorneys can not only gain access to private profiles and personal messages but, on certain occasions, to posts you have deleted as well. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother setting your accounts to private, especially if you intend to keep using them after your accident. Privacy settings also stop others from posting to your page and tagging you in pictures. 

Contact a Reputable Virginia Personal Injury Law Firm

If you were injured in a Virginia car accident and have questions concerning your Virginia car accident claim, including how your social media accounts could affect it, contact the Virginia personal injury lawyers at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp, by calling (833) 997-1774 or through the contact form on our website. We will review the events leading up to your accident and outline the most sensible approach to getting you full compensation for your damages. 

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