What You Need to Know About LTD & Social Media (Part 1)
We’ve written before about the potential pitfalls of participating on social media while you have an active disability insurance claim. Now more than ever, insurers monitor claimants’ online activities because it is an inexpensive way to gather information, and so many people use at least one social media platform, like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
In this post, we’ll go over some things you should be aware of when you’re using social media, and how it can inadvertently undermine your LTD claim or coverage.
The Good (Not the Bad or the Ugly)
Anyone who’s used social media knows that most people’s lives are a lot less interesting, exciting and glamorous than they appear online. Most of us share and emphasize the good while glossing over or omitting the bad. We all have good days and not-so-good days, but usually the tough days days aren’t those we share online. The result is that most people’s social media profiles aren’t an accurate representation of their true lives. And that’s okay–except if your insurance claim says you can’t work because of your pain, illness or mental health issues.
It’s critical to put yourself in the insurance company’s shoes and look at your social media from their perspective. Could your profile be making it seem as though you’re free of pain and limitations, with a full and healthy social life? Unfortunately, you need to look at your online activities from the position of the insurer, who is looking for evidence to discredit your claim.
It’s Not Just Your Own Profile
Even if you don’t post much on your own profile, the insurer can still develop an impression of you based on many other things, such as:
- You being tagged in other users’ photos or mentioned in other users’ posts
- Your comments on other people’s posts, and their comments on yours
- Your location check-ins
- Events you say you’ll attend
- How often you are interacting online
It’s critical that you look beyond just your own posts or status updates. You or your connections could be inadvertently painting a picture that your health–physical and/or mental–is much better than it actually is.
Those are two important things to keep in mind, and in our next post, we’ll look at privacy settings, deleting or editing your content, and off-limits topics.
If you are having trouble with your LTD claim or benefits, we are here to help. Contact us so that we can begin advocating for the benefits you’re entitled to.