Social Media Can Hurt Your Personal Injury Case

We're living in interesting times. Social media has transformed our lives, especially for millennials. Did you know that social media can also affect your personal injury claim?

I'm not talking about texting and driving, or other forms of distracted driving which stems from cell-phone use. I'm talking about insurance companies using social media as a tool against personal injury claimants.

Before social media became such a phenomenon, insurance companies used other means to snoop on personal injury claimants. One popular tool was "sub rosa". This is a latin term which means "in secret". Insurance companies often hired photographers or videographers to follow personal injury claimants around, hoping to capture images of the claimant doing something he or she claimed he could not do because of the accident.

Here's an example. When I was in law school, I externed with the United States Attorneys Office in Downtown Los Angeles. One of the attorneys there tried a case which involved disability fraud. The claimant, who was a postal worker, claimed she was unable to lift mail bags, and as a result, was unable to work. However, the Postal Service had secret surveillance video of the claimant doing jumping jacks and all sorts of strenuous exercises. It turns out, the postal worker was claiming disability but had opened a day-care on the side where she engaged in physical activities with the children. Needless to say, the surveillance video was very damaging to her case--which she lost.

Sub rosa is still used today by many insurance companies. But why would an insurance company pay for something it can get for free? This is where social media comes into play.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and many other popular social media apps are FREE. Insurance adjusters have told me that the first thing they do when receiving notice of a claim is to scan social media belonging to any associated parties, including the plaintiff. People tend to broadcast their lives on social media, and maybe, just maybe, the adjuster will find something damaging. Maybe they'll find someone admitting that they ran the red light, and not the other driver.

This is not hypothetical. I have seen it time and again in my practice. I have seen adjusters reference Tweets my clients sent out years ago as justification to deny claims, or at the very least, delay them.

For instance: Last year, I resolved a case where a client broke his arm. In 2016, he posted on Facebook "played football at the park, arm is really sore from throwing!!" The adjuster tried using this Facebook post from 3 years before to suggest that my client didn't break his arm in the accident.

Clients sometimes are peeved that insurance adjusters are stalking them on social media. Yes, it's creepy. But no, it's not illegal. Anything you put out on social media is public knowledge and in the public domain. It doesn't cost the insurance company any money to obtain.

So if you have a personal injury case, whether it's a car accident, slip and fall, dog bite, or other injury matter, DON'T DISCUSS IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Make your accounts private, at the very least. The creepy insurance adjuster is watching you!! Don't give him or her a reason to deny your claim.

Also, if you are claiming injuries and are on social media posting videos of yourself doing strenuous activities, the insurance company is very likely to question your injuries--just like they did with injured postal worker example above.

Social media is wonderful, but I've seen first-hand how insurance adjusters try and use it against my clients. Each case is unique, and there are ways around this insurance company chutzpah, but that's why you need the Rabbi Lawyer on your side!!

For questions about your Los Angeles or Southern California case, my office is ready to assist, 24/6.