Posting On Social Media After A Car Accident In Michigan: Avoid It

After a car accident in Michigan, it’s best to avoid posting details about the incident on social media. Insurance companies and legal teams often review these posts and may use them to challenge your claim or question your account of what happened. This applies to anything you share about the crash itself, your injuries, medical treatment, recovery progress, and even photos or videos showing the incident or your physical activity afterward.

It is now standard practice for insurance companies to regularly check social media postings of victims after a car accident in Michigan. Adjusters and investigators also run computer searches to learn about your personal life. After a lawsuit is filed, insurance company lawyers will demand that your attorney provide them with downloads from all of your status updates. Defense lawyers now regularly go to court seeking an order to access everything from your banking records to your release of your personal emails.

Why should you avoid posting on social media after a car accident in Michigan?

After a car accident in Michigan, it’s important to avoid posting about the incident on social media because insurance companies and legal teams often monitor these platforms closely. Anything you share—even seemingly harmless updates or photos—can be used to evaluate your claim and may be twisted to undermine your version of events or reduce the compensation you receive. To protect your case and avoid giving opposing parties any reason to question your credibility, it’s best to keep details about the crash, your injuries, and recovery off social media until your claim is resolved.

Below are some important considerations to keep in mind if you are thinking about posting to your social media accounts after a car accident in Michigan:

Private posts can be accessed

After a car accident in Michigan, it’s crucial to avoid posting about the incident on social media—even private posts can be accessed and used against you. Insurance companies and legal teams have ways to review content that may seem private or limited to certain audiences. They may use these status updates to find inconsistencies, question your injuries, or dispute your account of what happened. To protect yourself and your claim, it’s safest to keep all details about the crash and your recovery off social media until your case is fully resolved.

Photos and videos can be taken out of context

After a car accident in Michigan, it’s important to avoid posting photos or videos on social media because they can easily be misunderstood or taken out of context. What might seem like an innocent update or a quick snapshot of your recovery could be interpreted differently by insurance companies or legal teams, potentially harming your claim. Visual content can be used to question the severity of your injuries or the circumstances of the crash, so it’s best to hold off on sharing anything until your case is settled to avoid complications.

Avoid posting on social media because what you share could hurt your Michigan car accident case

It’s important to avoid posting about a car accident or your injuries on social media because anything you share can potentially hurt your case. Insurance companies and legal teams often review these updates to look for details that might contradict your statements or downplay the extent of your injuries. Even honest updates can be misinterpreted or used to challenge your claim, making it harder to receive fair compensation. To protect your rights and your case, it’s best to keep all information about the crash and your recovery private until the matter is fully resolved.

Don’t share any information about the legal process

Avoid posting about the legal process after a car accident on social media because sharing details can jeopardize your case. Information about your claim, settlement negotiations, or legal strategy might be used by insurance companies or opposing parties to gain an advantage or weaken your position. Publicly discussing your case can also unintentionally reveal inconsistencies or sensitive information that could harm your chances of a fair outcome. To protect your interests and maintain confidentiality, it’s best to keep all legal matters off social media until your case is fully resolved.

The danger with posting on social media after a car accident in Michigan is that it is so easy to take the text written or a picture out of context and then accuse someone of fraud. Taking a picture that was taken before an automobile crash but that was put online after a crash is an all too common and all too easy way for a defense attorney or insurance claims adjuster to accuse a crash victim of faking, malingering, or committing insurance fraud.

Don’t communicate with insurance adjusters or the other driver online

After a car accident in Michigan, it’s important to avoid posting about the incident on social media and to steer clear of engaging with insurance adjusters or the other driver online. Anything you share publicly can be used against you to challenge your claim or dispute your version of events. Similarly, communicating with insurance representatives or the other party through social media or informal channels can lead to misunderstandings or statements that may harm your case. To protect your rights and ensure your claim is handled properly, keep all discussions and updates private, and work through your attorney or official channels instead.

Don’t delete posts or your accounts

After a car accident in Michigan, it’s important to avoid posting about the incident on social media because anything you share can be used by insurance companies or legal teams to challenge your claim or dispute your account of what happened. However, if you’ve already shared something, deleting those posts or your entire account can sometimes raise suspicion and be seen as an attempt to hide evidence. Instead of deleting, it’s best to leave your social media activity untouched and avoid making any new status updates related to the crash until your case is resolved. This approach helps protect your credibility and ensures you don’t unintentionally harm your claim.

How to avoid posting on social media after a car accident accident in Michigan

Given the harm that photos, videos and comments posted to social media after a car accident in Michigan can cause to your case, I advise my clients of the following when it comes to their accounts:

• DO NOT DELETE anything! – Few things can hurt your lawsuit as severely and fatally as can the destruction of potential evidence. It is crucial that you preserve the current postings of your social media accounts after a car accident in Michigan. This can be done by archiving the contents. Talk to your lawyer about the process for safely, properly and correctly archiving. In the now infamous case, Lester v. Allied Concrete Company, a Virginia state trial court ordered a personal injury victim and his lawyer to pay $180,000 and $522,000 in sanctions, respectively, when the victim deleted photos from his Facebook profile at his attorney’s instruction.
• Temporarily deactivate your accounts until your case is over – After talking with your lawyer, you may wish to consider deactivating your social media accounts after a Michigan car accident and, thus, ceasing to post at least until your case is over.
• Ask friends to refrain from sharing any pictures or comments about you on their accounts after a crash
• Set your accounts to the highest privacy setting – This will allow only your family and friends, instead of “friends of friends” or the general public, to access your profile and status updates. You may also wish to change your settings so that you are not “searchable” in order to keep strangers from nosing around in your personal life. Facebook’s “View as” feature allows you to view your profile as someone would see it, which gives you the opportunity to double-check the privacy of what is appearing on your page. Note that your “interests” will continue to be displayed even if your account is otherwise set to private.
• Keep your friends close – Only allow “friends” that you know well to have access to your account and status updates. Do not become “friends” with someone on Facebook unless you know them well and trust them.
• Go invisible – You can remove yourself from Facebook service results by selecting “only friends” under the “search visibility” option in your profile settings. You can also remove yourself from Google by unchecking the box for “Public Search Listing” in Google’s internet privacy settings. Similar privacy settings are likely available on other search engines and platforms.
• Keep an eye on when you are tagged in photos – If your settings allow your friends to tag photos of you, be sure to monitor these carefully. When possible, opt in for e-mail notifications to let you know whenever you have been tagged in a photo.
• Share status updates with caution – My best advice to you and to all of my clients is to avoid posting on social media after a Michigan car accident. Stay away from replying to comments, photos and videos until your case has been resolved. For those people who choose to not follow this advice, I warn them to be very cautious about what they share online – whether it is on your own account or on someone else’s page. Consider whether it can be taken the wrong way or out of context. Ask yourself “Who could see this?” and whether it could be used to cast doubt on your crash-related injury claims. Assume that anything you contribute online could and likely will be read by defense lawyers, judges and juries.
• Regularly review all of your online profiles
• Google yourself – Do an image and web search for your name (in quotes) to see what pops up. If you find anything inaccurate and that portrays you in a false light, then do your best to immediately get it removed.
• Preserve all computers, tablets, cell phones – This prevents a defense lawyer from arguing that you destroyed the electronic communication device deliberately to destroy evidence. It is much better to have your lawyer debate with a judge whether the defense should have access to your computer than to have to convince a jury that the destroyed computer was not purposely destroyed to get rid of evidence that was unfavorable to you.
• Do not send messages or information about the case – Do not send e-mails, texts, or post “private” social media messages about your Michigan car accident case, your injuries, your recovery, your treatment or your activities to anyone except your lawyer. Careless communication can destroy a case.
• Do not join websites or chat groups – Any information that you put online is highly searchable. Do not enter any information on dating or insurance websites, contribute on message boards, participate in or comment on “private” groups or blogs, or use chat rooms.

To learn more about sharing status updates on your accounts please check out this video from our attorney Christopher C. Hunter:

Facebook posts used to prove fraud

The ruling in Yousif v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (#336791, February 27, 2018, unpublished) makes the case for why you should avoid posting on social media after a car accident in Michigan. In this case the State Court of Appeals ruled that a person had committed a “fraudulent insurance act” which disqualified him from recovering No-Fault benefits where his “numerous Facebook posts” and “social media documentation” “belied his claims of disability and incessant pain” on which his claims for attendant care and replacement services were based.

The Yousif court explained that the Facebook posts provided “evidence of an active, pain-free young man socializing, discussing exercising, and traveling.”

Can the defense get a court order to access your posts on your social media accounts after a car accident in Michigan?

It is possible that a defense lawyer may be able to get an order to review your profiles, but courts will not allow them to go on a “fishing expedition.” The defense will be required to show that access is “reasonably calculated” to lead to the discovery of relevant, admissible evidence.

Injured in a crash? Call the attorneys at Michigan Auto Law now for a free consultation!

If you were injured in a crash in Michigan and want more tips like not posting on social media, call now (800) 968-1001 for a free consultation with one of our experienced car accident lawyers. There is no cost or obligation. You can also visit our contact page or use the chat feature on our website.

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