Social Media and Your Injury Case
Insurers look at social media in almost every injury claim. The posts that cause the most damage are rarely the ones people worry about.
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What the other side is actually looking for
An adjuster is not hoping to find a video of you doing something you said you could not do. That happens rarely. What they are looking for is anything that can be presented as inconsistent with the claim, and the bar for that is low.
A photograph of you smiling at a family gathering becomes evidence you were not in distress. A check-in at a restaurant becomes evidence you were mobile. A post about a weekend away becomes evidence you were not restricted. None of that is fair, and all of it gets used.
Context is stripped away before anyone sees it
The problem with a photograph as evidence is that it records a moment and nothing around it. It does not record that you left after twenty minutes because your back seized, that you were medicated, or that you spent the following day unable to get up.
By the time a still image is projected in a mediation, the explanation arrives after the impression has formed. That is why the safest position is not to post rather than to post carefully.
Privacy settings help less than people assume
Locking an account down is worth doing, but it is not protection. Content reaches investigators through mutual connections, through friends who reshare, and through people tagging you in their own posts, which sit under their privacy settings rather than yours.
In litigation, social media content can also become discoverable. A private setting controls who browses casually; it does not put material beyond the reach of a formal request.
Never delete anything
This is the single most important rule on this page, and it is the opposite of most people's instinct. Once a claim exists, deleting posts can amount to destruction of evidence.
The consequences of spoliation are worse than the posts. A court can instruct a jury that it may assume deleted material was unfavourable, which converts an awkward photograph into an inference that you concealed something. Deactivate an account if you want it out of view. Do not delete content.
What to do instead
Stop posting until the claim resolves. Ask family and friends not to tag you or post photographs of you. Decline new connection requests from people you do not know, because investigators do make them.
Tell your lawyer about anything already posted that could be misread. It is far easier to deal with a known problem in advance than to be shown it for the first time in a deposition.
Messages count too
Direct messages, group chats and comment threads are also content. A casual message downplaying an injury to avoid worrying a relative reads very differently when it is produced as an admission. Assume anything typed may eventually be read by the other side.
| What you post | How it is presented |
|---|---|
| A photograph at any social event | You were not in distress |
| A location check-in | You were mobile and traveling |
| Any physical activity, however brief | Your restrictions are exaggerated |
| A complaint about the claim taking long | You are motivated by money |
| Deleting a post after the injury | You destroyed evidence |
| A message reassuring family you are fine | An admission the injury is minor |
Related
Frequently asked questions
No. Deleting content once a claim exists can amount to destruction of evidence, and a court may instruct a jury that it can assume the deleted material was unfavourable. Deactivate the account if you want it out of view, but do not delete.
Privacy settings limit casual browsing, not determined investigation. Content reaches the other side through mutual connections, reshares and posts you are tagged in. In litigation, social media content can also become discoverable.
Those sit under their privacy settings rather than yours, so ask people not to post or tag you while the claim is ongoing. Tell your lawyer about anything already posted that could be misread.
No. Posts about the claim, the other driver or the insurer are used to characterise your motivation, and complaints about delay are presented as evidence you are driven by money.
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