Social media has taken over the world during the last decade with millions of people posting about the most intricate and private parts of their life. Some of the posts published on the likes of Facebook are bizarre to say the least but then again if we were all the same it would be a boring life. However, when it comes to personal injury claims many people feel tempted to post about their experience, but is it sensible to post about personal injury claims on social media sites when pursuing compensation? If you are a defendant in a personal injury claim case should you even talk about the issue?
Tracking Your Everyday Life
When you bear in mind that people post about their most private moments and even post where they are and what they are doing, this is potentially a data oasis for defence lawyers in a personal injury claims cases. It may seem a little unfair but if your Facebook page or other social media accounts are visible to the general public (have you ever thought of adjusting your privacy settings?) then they could be used in evidence against you. How and when they are used will depend upon the issues at hand but you should be extremely careful if you are pursuing a personal injury claim.
The Basis Of Your Personal Injury Claim
If you take a step back and look at the situation from a distance, any personal injury claim is a bid to prove that your life has been negatively impacted either mentally or physically, or both. The role of a defence lawyer in any court case is to prove that those pursuing a claim are either exaggerating the impact or basically lying. However, the main problem with social media is the fact that the majority of people only post about positive aspects of their life and many are prone to exaggeration.
If we look at a couple of examples:-
- Back injuries
Back injuries are some of the most common personal injury claims pursued in the UK. They could be the result of a road traffic accident or even slipping at work and injuring your back. If you are pursuing a back injury claim can you imagine how it might look to a defence lawyer if you post a picture or mention the fact that you have been mowing your lawn?
You have to admit that it looks fairly suspicious to post about mowing your lawn when your prosecuting lawyer is suggesting you have a life changing back injury, whether short term or longer term. The fact that you may have been in excruciating pain, could not finish mowing your lawn or perhaps you were just exaggerating would not have been reflected in your post. Any defence lawyer worth their salt would pick up on this and use this as “evidence” that your claim is invalid and potentially fraudulent.
- Trauma
Mental health and well-being is another issue which often rears its head with regards to personal injury claims. Suggestions that a person has experienced a negative impact on their quality of life because of trauma, duress and other mental health issues are the subject of numerous court cases in pursuit of personal injury claims. Can you imagine how it looks if you are posting about nights out, social activities and giving the impression that you are happy and content while pursuing a personal injury claim based on trauma?
As we touched on above, the vast majority of people who use social media on a regular basis only tend to post about the positive aspects of their life. In many ways it is a case of “getting one up on your friends and neighbours” by giving the impression your life is great and you are full of beans. You may be heavily traumatised because of an accident or issues at work but these are elements of your private life which many people prefer to keep private. So, using your social media page as evidence a defence lawyer may attempt to reduce the compensation awarded or even have your case thrown out of court.
Criticising The Defendant
There is nothing that a defence lawyer likes better than somebody who bears a grudge against the defendant and is venting their anger in public. When you post about a personal injury claim on your social media accounts you will not always attract sympathy and comfort. Some people may suggest that you are “sue happy” and very quickly you can have a “flaming post” on your hands which can escalate. Again, any defence lawyer worth their salt would use this criticism of the defendant to show they are a bitter and angry individual with a grudge to bear.
Even if you have a watertight personal injury claim the ability to show evidence from your social media accounts which gives the impression you are bitter towards the defendant does not help your situation. At worst your case could be thrown out of court and at best your potential compensation award could be reduced. It is imperative that you refrain from criticising the defendant in an ongoing or a future personal injury claim. You never know who is watching your social media accounts and your online life!
Protect Your Character
If you have to refrain from using social media while your personal injury claim is ongoing is this really such a hardship? Too many people post too much intimate detail about their lives for the world to see without appreciating that it can be used against them in a court of law, among other things. So, if you are involved in a personal injury claim avoid social media no matter how hard you might find this!
Defendants Should Also Be Wary Of Social Media!
While we are focused on the issues surrounding those pursuing a claim for personal injury there are also aspects of social media which impact defendants. If you publicly criticise those pursuing a claim against you this could be used as evidence in a court of law if any aspect of your comments are inaccurate or simply wrong. If you think about it, what have you got to gain by mentioning an up-and-coming personal injury claim on social media? Will this sway the judge? Surely if you have anything to say about those pursuing a personal injury claim against you, the court is the place?
Conclusion
We have looked at certain aspects of how social media might impact personal injury claims both in terms of those pursuing a claim and those defending a claim. The simple conclusion is that information obtained via social media accounts could only ever have a negative impact upon your case. As a consequence, either refrain from discussing legal action on your social media account or, if you would find that difficult, refrain from using social media until the case is concluded.
