Any health issues you had previous to the accident that led to your present injury are known as pre-existing conditions. These pre-existing conditions can be utilized by insurance companies as an excuse to reject or undervalue an injury claim. They might say that your injury was a result of a pre-existing illness rather than anything that occurred during the accident. This is the reason you need an attorney.
Can a pre-existing condition affect your personal injury claim?
It is essential to establish a connection between the accident and the decline in your health in any personal injury claim. Your claim must prove each of the following four parts in order to establish causation:
- It was the defendant’s legal responsibility to keep an eye out for the plaintiff, who was hurt.
- In some way, the defendant violated this duty.
- The injury occurred directly to this violation.
- Lastly, the plaintiff incurred losses or damages as a result of this injury.
Establishing this link is much more important in cases involving pre-existing conditions.
This can be a difficult task, particularly if you have a pre-existing condition that is not well-recorded or easily visible. To prove how the accident made your pre-existing health condition more severe, you might need to present a significant amount of medical documentation and expert witness testimony.
Common insurance company tricks
An insurance company could attempt to argue that your injuries were caused by your pre-existing condition rather than the accident in order to avoid repaying you the money you have a right to. For example, let’s say that when the negligent driver struck your car, you already had a ruptured disc and had further back pain. The insurance provider will argue that your back pain comes from the injured disc rather than the crash.
They will try to reduce the burden by claiming the accident merely made an already-existing condition worse. They use this tactic to place the blame on your medical history in an effort to reduce their financial liability.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions
You might still be entitled to compensation for the increasing effects of your car accident on your health if it aggravates or worsens the pre-existing condition. This is referred to as “aggravation of pre-existing conditions.”
Consult a Professional
It might be hard to handle a personal injury claim when there is a pre-existing medical issue. Getting help from a personal injury lawyer with significant expertise in managing such issues is essential for this reason. A skilled attorney knows the legal concepts that uphold people with pre-existing conditions’ ability to recover damages for accident-related injuries.
