“Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law” this phrase has been used in tv shows and movies so much that it started sounding like a cliche. The statement is very true, and in today’s digital world, it’s not just about “anything you say” anymore. Even the details you post or publish on your social media pages can and will be used against you.
That’s the reason why attorneys strongly discourage their clients from discussing and posting details about an ongoing case. In fact, almost all attorneys agree that clients should avoid social media altogether until the case is settled.
Here is the thing, insurance companies are businesses. And just like any other business, they want to meet their bottom line. If the companies moved around compensating everyone for their claims, they’d go out of business. To avoid this, they perform thorough investigations and build strong cases to reduce or fight claims.
Discussing your case with other individuals creates loopholes. The fine details of your statement can start contradicting. This may seem harmless to you, but the insurance adjusters will take full advantage of that information to reduce the settlement as much as possible.
How Discussing Your Case Hurts Your Car Accident Claim
Discussing your case with your friends or on social media can hurt your case in the following ways:
1. It can show the admission of fault.
It’s easy to get caught up and talk too much without knowing the impact of your words. Sometimes a genuine sentence or tweet is all it takes for the lawyers of the opposing side to claim that you were, actually, at fault for the accident. This can be enough to reduce or end your settlement.
2. It can be used to discredit your physical injuries
Picture this; your best friend tells you they can’t meet up because they have a cold and will be spending the day indoors. A few hours later, you see a live feed of a mutual colleague showing the “sick friend” having the time of his life at a party. How will you interpret that?
Simple social media posts can be used to argue that you are nowhere as injured as you claim to be. And no, switching your account to private is not the solution.
3. It can discredit claims of emotional distress.
Psychologists agree that car accidents can put the victim under immense mental and emotional distress. It can even result in serious PTSD.
Depending on the claim filed, a car accident case can also compensate the victims for this emotional stress. However, if the opposing attorneys can prove that your latest activities and social media posts are anything but distressing, your settlement will suffer.
4. It can breach confidentiality agreements.
Car accident settlements involve delicate details, some of which may be confidential. The information your share with your attorneys is supposed to be protected under confidentiality. But if you talk about the case with other people, the details become public knowledge, and the confidentiality perks go out the window.
Such a breach can also negate all the progress your attorney may have made while negotiating an out-of-court settlement.
For instance, if your accident involved a famous person in Georgia, the defendant may be willing to settle the matter as quietly as possible to keep their name out of the headlines. Then you proceed to hire an excellent personal injury lawyer in Georgia to handle the case. As the negotiations are ongoing, you start telling your friends how the popular figure is about to cut you a check.
When such details go public, the fate of the settlement will hang in the balance. Sure, you may still get some compensation, but it’ll probably take long and expensive hearings. You can avoid all this by staying quiet and letting your able attorney handle the issue.
5. It can provide evidence of “bad faith.”
Settlements can be very frustrating. For one, it can take forever to see any progress in your case. These frustrations are justified but don’t go online to attack the defendant or the insurance adjuster.
Such attacks can be used to demonstrate you are negotiating in bad faith. The insurance company will use it as evidence to discredit your entire claim.
While you may be tempted to vent online or to your friends, try your best to avoid such discussions until the settlement is done. You are free to take the occasional scroll through your Instagram feed but avoid publishing new posts as much as possible. You should also be very wry of new accounts trying to follow you.
