Filing an Insurance Claim or Lawsuit? Stay Off Social Media
- Rabih Hamawi
- Jul 25
- 3 min read
If you have a pending insurance claim or recently filed a lawsuit against your insurance company, it’s time to stop posting on social media. Why? Because your insurance company (and its lawyers) will be looking for any reason to deny your claim (or accuse you of fraud), and that includes scouring your social media profiles for information that conflicts with your claim.
Why do Insurance Companies Investigate Social Media Profiles?
Insurers are looking for evidence of insurance fraud. By going through your social media profiles, they’re hoping to find proof that you’ve filed a false claim. And if the insurance company does find evidence of fraud on your social media pages, it’ll likely deny your claim.
For example, imagine that John submits an insurance claim after his house burned down. His insurance company conducts a social media investigation and finds a Facebook post where John admitted that he purposely caused the fire. Because the insurance company now has evidence that the house fire was not an accidental loss, John’s claim will be denied. In this scenario, the claim denial is warranted because John was in fact attempting to commit insurance fraud.
But consider a different scenario. Imagine that Jane submits an insurance claim after her house burned down in a legitimate fire. Her insurance company conducts a social media investigation, but instead of finding any posts where Jane admits responsibility for the fire, the insurance company discovers multiple posts of Jane complaining about her financial hardships and that she’s desperate for money. Her insurance company might assume that Jane had a financial motive to intentionally set the fire, and depending on what else they discover, the insurance company may end up denying Jane’s claim even though she didn’t do anything wrong.
Is it Legal for Insurers to Conduct Social Media Investigations?
Yes. Not only is it legal for insurance companies to investigate their claimants’ social media profiles, but courts actually recognize that proof of facts can be determined via social media posts.
In Yousif v State Farm Mutual Auto Ins Co, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Michigan Court of Appeals, decided February 27, 2018 (Docket No 336791), the plaintiff claimed that he was essentially bedridden after being injured, but his Facebook posts revealed that he was capable of traveling, socializing, and otherwise living a normal life.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiff committed a fraudulent insurance act by making false statements, and that his social media posts demonstrated the falsity of his claims. In other words, insurance companies (and their lawyers) can go through your social media profiles to locate damaging evidence, and Michigan courts will likely consider this evidence when ruling on a case.
How to Prevent Your Social Media Activity From Destroying Your Claim?
1. Stop posting: If you’re in the process of submitting an insurance claim or filing a lawsuit against your insurance company, stop posting on social media altogether. It’s best to assume that your insurance company is actively looking to poke holes in your claim, so don’t give them anything else to analyze.
2. Go private: If your social media profiles are public, update your privacy settings. Once you go private, don’t accept friend requests or follow requests from unknown users. Why? Because insurance companies are actually advised to create fake profiles to investigate what claimants post on social media, and they may even hire third-party social media investigators to help them do this.
3. Don’t delete posts: This may sound counterintuitive, but don’t start deleting your social media posts. If you end up filing a lawsuit against your insurance company, they may subpoena information regarding your social media profiles, including the metadata, which could reveal if you’ve deleted posts. Because you want to appear as credible as possible during this process, preserving your social media posts will prevent you from potentially destroying evidence or looking suspicious.
If your insurance company has accused you of committing a fraudulent insurance act and wrongfully denied your claim, contact Law Office of Rabih Hamawi for a case evaluation at (248) 905-1133 or www.hamawilaw.com.
Who is Rabih Hamawi?
Attorney & Counselor
Rabih Hamawi is a principal at the Law Office of Rabih Hamawi, P.C. and focuses his practice on representing policyholders in fire, property damage, and insurance-coverage disputes against insurance companies and in errors-and-omissions cases against insurance agents. He may be reached at (248) 905-1133.
