Don’t Share Your Accident

One of the first and most common accidents you can make immediately following a collision is posting online. This is also one of the more common ongoing mistakes personal injury clients make. 

Insurance adjusters are reasonably adept at trawling social media feeds for any piece of leverage for lowering claim settlements. Here are the things they are looking for:

Minimizing Injuries

While you might want to comfort your friends and family, posting an update saying you’re okay can be used against you as proof that you weren’t injured. Sometimes injuries don’t present themselves until later, meaning even if you thought you were feeling okay, you were still injured. 

On an ongoing basis, don’t post about your physical activities or updates on your injuries. You don’t want to post about your backpacking trip when you’re claiming a damaged leg, even if the trip happened before the accident. You also don’t want the off-reply-to-a-comment from a friend saying your “leg’s healing up great” to impact your case. 

Similarly, you probably don’t want to be posting at all if you suffered a TBI. 

Finding Inconsistencies

One of the first things you want to do after an accident is to figure out what happened and get your story straight. A personal injury lawyer can help with this, as they will keep the story accurate while keeping you in the best light possible. 

Immediately following an accident, it can be hard to know or comprehend exactly what happened. That’s why personal injury lawyers recommend taking photos of the accident for them to analyze. You can easily misunderstand the situation or be confused by shock.

If you post your own story of what happened online right after the fact, the insurance adjuster will find inconsistencies because there is a detail you missed or left out in your post. While you may be telling the short story of what happened in your wreck, the adjuster is looking for a reason to make you look dishonest. Be careful on what you post regarding the facts of the case.

Insinuating from the Past

A lot of insurance companies don’t stop at the date of the accident when scrolling through your timeline. They’re looking for any evidence against you, which means they’re also looking for trends in your driving behavior. Any posts you've created, photos you've taken, or videos you've recorded while you’re driving, or any indication that you’re a reckless driver can be found by the insurance adjuster. This shows a tendency towards distracted driving and damages your case. 

In the same vein, if you posted about prior accidents, DUIs, or other traffic violation convictions, you are providing further evidence of your tendencies as a driver. 

The dangers of posting your ongoing driving behavior can also impact your car insurance. Social scoring is a method of assessing one’s social media to try and raise their premiums. It’s generally just inadvisable to post anything about your driving history online.

Keeping Your Timeline Clean

If you want to keep yourself protected from nosy insurance adjusters, your best bet is to avoid posting about the accident altogether. You can also change your privacy setting to try and keep them from gaining access to your timeline. 

The other best way to protect yourself is by managing what you post, even before you might get into an accident. By avoiding posting about your driving habits you are most likely promoting their best possible image (not many people post about how much fun it is being a responsible and safe driver).

How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You

If you’ve been in an accident and aren’t sure how to proceed, contact a lawyer. A personal injury lawyer will give you the advice and guidance you need to maximize your claim and protect your assets. Contact the Dixie Law Group today to get the help you need.