Will My Pre-Existing Condition Hurt My Personal Injury Claim?

Man looks at his insurance paper work with stress

“Pre-existing condition” can be a hot-button phrase. When it comes to personal injury claims, pre-existing conditions are an important consideration for all parties. To receive compensation for your injuries, you must prove that the accident caused your injuries. If you were injured before you were involved in the accident, it can be tricky to prove that your current pain was caused by your recent accident.

Why Does a Pre-Existing Condition Matter?

In any personal injury case, the party at fault for the accident is responsible for making the injured party whole. That means that the at-fault party must make the injured party as close as possible to the way they were before the accident.

In practice, the at-fault party must pay to repair property damage and cover all the medical treatment necessary to make the injured party as healthy as he or she was before the accident. The at-fault party is under no obligation to leave the injured party better than they were before the accident or to compensate the injured party for injuries and damages the at-fault party did not cause.

That means that insurance companies, personal injury lawyers, and accident victims spend a lot of time arguing about whether or not the accident at hand is the actual cause of the health conditions described by the injured party.

If you broke your leg in a car accident, the at-fault party should pay to have it fixed. If your leg was broken before the motor vehicle accident, it is considered a pre-existing injury. The at-fault party will not have to cover your medical bills for the broken leg because they did not cause the break.

What Kinds of Conditions Matter in Accident Claims?

In accident claims, two kinds of pre-existing conditions matter: previous injuries and chronic conditions. In the first case, imagine that you have a broken femur, and on the way to the hospital for a checkup, you are involved in an auto accident, and your leg that was already broken is injured again.

The question at issue is the same one outlined above. Does the at-fault party have to pay to fix your leg? It was broken before the accident. The answer is complicated, and it almost always requires expert testimony, but if the broken femur was made worse by the accident, the at-fault party will have to provide some compensation.

In the second case, imagine that you have chronic back pain due to a herniated disc. You are involved in an accident, and you receive a whiplash injury in the crash. Your back still hurts after the accident. Is the pain due to your already herniated disc or is it caused by the new injury? Only an expert can answer that question.

What Do You Need to Prove?

If you were injured in an accident after you were diagnosed with a prior injury or chronic condition, you are not barred from recovering damages from the at-fault party. It is just that your situation has gotten a lot more complicated.

You are going to have to prove that your current injuries were either caused or aggravated (made worse) by the accident. That means that you will have to provide medical records from before and after the accident—the insurance adjusters will want to see your medical history before they agree to a settlement.

You will also have to provide an opinion from a medical expert that states that the accident made your injury or condition worse and that without the accident you would not be in your current situation.

If you can prove those two things, you may be able to receive a settlement. However, any case involving a pre-existing condition is automatically more complicated and subject to higher scrutiny. This is one of the times when you should consider contacting a personal injury attorney because you may be unable to navigate the process alone.

How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help Me?

When a personal injury case involves the exacerbation or worsening of pre-existing medical conditions, it will be even trickier than usual to obtain fair compensation for your damages. The at-fault party’s insurance company will likely do everything in its power to argue that your injuries were not caused or made worse by your accident.

Whether you’re facing a traumatic brain injury, back injuries, broken bones, or chronic pain, you deserve to have your medical expenses covered by the at-fault party. An attorney with The Advocates law firm can help.

Our car accident lawyers will offer sound legal advice, help you gather evidence, and find medical experts to testify on your behalf. We will fight the multi-million dollar insurance companies to get you the compensation you deserve.

Contact us today for a free consultation. You deserve fair compensation for your new injuries and the aggravation of prior injuries. You deserve an Advocate.

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