Social Media is now becoming more prevalent in personal injury cases and is being used by Defendants to investigate the credibility of injured parties.

Whilst the majority of personal injury claims are of course genuine, social media is proving to be a useful tool in cracking down on fraudulent claims and in particular the ‘big business’ of staged car crashes where the parties claim not to know one another and yet their Facebook profiles, for instance, tell a very different story. They have also been used to challenge the credibility of a witness who claimed to be unable to work but who was in fact uploading videos of them refurbishing and racing sports cars!

Lois Harrison of Berrymans Solicitors said “It is an important lesson for all, not just those considering litigation, that your social media accounts can be seen by others and once something is uploaded onto the internet, your digital footprint may be there forever”.

CAPTION: Lois Harrison, Chartered Legal Executive