Yes. During an insurance claim investigation after an accident, an adjuster may review your social media posts, including photographs, videos, comments, location information, and activity updates. The insurer may compare that content with information provided in your injury claim, including your medical records, any recorded statements, deposition testimony, or descriptions you provided of how your injuries affect daily life.

A single post may not show the full picture of someone’s condition. Even so, an insurer might use it to question the seriousness of an injury, challenge statements about physical limitations, or dispute how the accident happened. Relevant social media content can also become evidence if the claim leads to a personal injury lawsuit.

What social media content might an insurance company review?

An insurance company might review more than posts that directly mention the accident. Photographs, videos, comments, tagged content, check-ins, fitness updates, and location information can all be considered if they appear relevant to the claim. For example, an insurer might use a photograph from a social event to suggest that an injured person can stand, travel, or participate in activities without difficulty. The image may not show that the person was in pain, needed assistance, left early, or experienced worse symptoms afterward.

The insurer might compare social media activity with your statements about pain, physical restrictions, missed work, emotional distress, travel, exercise, and changes in daily activities. Comments made by friends or family members, and posts in which the injured person is tagged, can also raise questions, even when the person did not create the content.

Should you post about the accident or injury claim or delete existing content?

A post intended for friends and family may later be reviewed by an adjuster, defense attorney, or another party involved in the dispute. So it is generally wise not to post publicly about the accident, injuries, medical treatment, insurance communications, or an ongoing claim.Privacy settings do not guarantee that content will remain outside the claim or litigation process. Posts may be shared by other users, saved, captured in screenshots, or requested through civil discovery. Making an account private can limit public access, but it does not make relevant content immune from disclosure.

Existing content should not be deleted without first considering the duty to preserve evidence. There is no single preservation deadline that applies to every injury claim. Under Texas law, a duty to preserve evidence can arise when a potential party knows or reasonably should know there is a substantial chance that a claim will be filed and that the evidence could be material and relevant to it. Deleting relevant posts, photographs, messages, or other electronic information after that duty arises may lead to an allegation of spoliation, meaning that evidence was destroyed or not reasonably preserved. Before deleting content, deactivating an account, or making other significant changes, a person with an existing or anticipated injury claim can ask an attorney how the preservation rules apply.

Can private social media content become evidence?

Yes. Relevant private social media content can become evidence in a personal injury lawsuit. During civil discovery, a party may serve a request for production seeking electronically stored information related to disputed injuries, physical abilities, emotional condition, daily activities, or statements about the accident. Private status does not make content confidential or protected from discovery. Direct messages, archived posts, tagged photographs, location information, and activity records may be requested when they are relevant to the issues in the lawsuit.

Access is not unlimited. Discovery generally must concern nonprivileged information relevant to the pending action, and a party can object to requests that are overly broad, unduly burdensome, or otherwise improper. A court may also limit discovery or enter a protective order when appropriate.

Call Bailey & Galyen

Questions about social media can arise before a lawsuit is filed and throughout the insurance claim process. Call Bailey & Galyen to discuss how existing posts, privacy settings, preservation duties, and possible discovery requests might affect your situation.

Can an insurance company use my social media against me after an accident?

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