Social media has become an essential everyday tool in society to share and show information about our lives. With most of the population regularly using a social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the amount of information available online is considerable.
Most of the time, it will of course be friends and family who are liking and commenting on your social media updates and pictures. However, what most of us will not know, is that if you are involved in an accident, and pursue compensation, the third-party insurers may also start taking an interest in the content you are posting.
Why would an insurer want to look at my social media profile?
Put simply, insurers can, and will look to, use your social media content as evidence if anything that you are posting contradicts your accident or any injuries that you have sustained and the severity of those injuries.
Insurers would look to instruct private investigations to prepare a report into your social media content. They will look to ingather all relevant content which they believe can discredit someone who claims their injuries are far more limiting than they really are.
Some examples of this can include: -
An individual who is advising they need a walking aid but has recently posted holiday photos of them diving into a swimming pool abroad will more than likely have their claim argued. If such a case were to go to a Court hearing, it would be incredibly difficult for that person to prove themselves as a credible and reliable witness. In these circumstances it could also be the case that the Pursuer may have to appear in Court with the purpose of their appearance being criminal rather than civil.
- A claimant may state he has not yet been able to return to work due to his injuries, however, is pictured working on roofing sheets on his colleague’s Instagram account. The injuries sustained by the pursuer might have been genuine, but he has exaggerated these injuries in order to increase the size of the purported loss of earnings head of claim. In this case, the Pursuer would more than likely find their claim rejected in full.
Whilst the number of social media investigative reports is increasing in the UK, fortunately Scotland has seen very few fraudulent claims. The content of a social media report can appear to be damming for a pursuer’s claim. However, if pull back the curtain of social media in the same sense that a Court would look behind curtain of a limited company, reports of this nature can be easily disregarded.
Many social media users will post positive, uplifting content about their lives. It is not common for someone to post downhearted or negative posts as users wish to paint a positive outlook of themselves. However, by doing so, this may unintentionally profess that a pursuer has recovered from their injuries.
On some occasions, this can be for commercial reasons. Business owners may wish to portray a positive outlook from their content when, they are suffering from injury. It is unfortunate that there is still a negative stigma around mental health mental health which could affect a potential client’s decision to enter into business with someone who strays away from posting positive content. For some pursuers, this could see their psychological damages being reduced for the benefit of their business. However, does this have to be the case?
Issues with psychological injuries
Whilst of course physical injuries can easily be identified in photographs, psychological ones are invisible and are often masked with a smile.
Habitually psychological injuries are something that social media users would not post about. If they continue to post content which is positive and uplifting, then this can problematic as such content could be argued by third party insurers that this refutes the extent of psychological injuries. Photographs are simply a snapshot of a person’s wellbeing and do not necessarily reflect the true extent of their injury.
So, what is the best thing for me to do?
The best thing to do is to remain honest and truthful throughout the life of your claim. A pursuer should always be aware of the content they post to social media after intimating a claim and exercise caution with anything that they post. Any content that is posted could be subject to misinterpretation or even be used against you by insurers. It is not unlikely that your social media content could be evidence at the centre of a Court hearing.
It is very important to remain vigilant when posting content online of any type of physical sport or activity which could portray deceptive impressions of the true extent of injuries.
Insurers are looking to reduce the amount of compensation that is paid out, and social media could be what they need to help them do this.
If you wish to discuss any matter arising out of this article please contact us on 0800 988 8082 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will get back to you.
