Nicole Vinson | Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | October 24, 2015
Policyholders are human and social media has really become a way of life for the young and those in their golden years.
Not surprisingly, homeowners and business owners suffering a loss, post about their problems on social media. But consider this: insurance companies are using information gathered from your social media profiles to look for ways to gain information they can turn into a red flag or a reason to delay or deny your claim.
Even if you don’t post one thing about your loss, you may still be under fire by your insurance adjuster about posts placed put on the Internet before you ever even had a problem.
When insurance companies are questioning insureds in a recorded statement, during an initial claim intake or interview, or at examinations under oath, they have already done a detailed evaluation into your public profiles.
To really grasp the power and the magnitude of how posting rants and photos can affect your insurance claim, you would really need to be a fly on the wall in the offices of the carriers.
The powers that be that are denying and delaying the claim are judging your character. Even if the claim has nothing to do with you personally, even if liability and responsibility is clear, the carriers are judging you.
What would an insurance company be looking at on your Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn accounts that have nothing to do with your current claim? Here is the short, non-inclusive list
- Information on the risk location or about your home, business or life prior to the loss
- Posts about the condition of the property, complaints or brags
- Complaints about your property having problems before the loss
- Complaints or brags about people or companies servicing your home
- Posts about the staff persons in your business and their areas of expertise
- Posts about purchase or inheritance of items
- Posts about marital trouble
- Posts about financial trouble
- Your vacation photos…
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