How Pre-Existing Conditions Impact Compensation in Car Accident Cases

Pre-existing conditions are health issues you already had before a car accident—like chronic pain, an old injury, or even past surgeries.

I’ve seen how things like arthritis or a previous back issue can become a focus after an accident. Insurance companies often zero in on these conditions, sometimes trying to use them as a reason to lower or even deny the compensation you truly deserve.  

Adjusters closely scrutinize pre-existing conditions because they are legally only liable for covering injuries the particular accident actually inflicted.

With that, this normally does not imply that you cannot recover if you had issues with your health before the accident.

The legislation also establishes the underlying principle, which is often referred to as “taking the victim as you find them,” under which fault-culpable offenders are made culpable for all the damage they cause.

Yes, you read that right! And that is regardless of whether the victim was otherwise more vulnerable by virtue of having some pre-existing impairment. 

What Qualifies as a Pre-Existing Condition?

Before talking about “car accident aggravated pre-existing condition settlement,” you need to know what it is in the first place! So, here’s what you should know:

Common Examples of Pre-Existing Medical Issues

Several medical conditions frequently become points of contention in car accident claims:

Neck or back chronic pain is likely the most prevalent pre-existing condition encountered by accident claims. Back pain has happened to most adults prior to accidents having the opportunity to occur, so it is a handy choice for insurance adjusters looking to limit their liability.  

Old operations or prior injury to the same limb now hurt in the crash may complicate claiming. For example, if you previously had surgery on your knee and you later hurt the same knee in a collision, insurers will be arguing that your pain is a result of the first injury. 

Arthritis or degenerative disc disease are the normal processes of aging that affect many individuals.

Insurance firms have generally adopted the stance that post-accident pain is merely the degeneration of such conditions and is not the result of the crash. 

How Medical History Becomes Relevant

Your medical history is invoked when insurance companies ask for access to your previous medical records. The inquisitions may be invasive, but insurers can require that they know your pre-accident health level. 

Keep in mind the difference between unrelated conditions and aggravated injuries. An unrelated condition is one that has no connection to your claim, but an aggravated injury—a pre-existing condition which was exacerbated by the accident—is compensable.

A good example is minor arthritis which becomes painfully miserable after whiplash in an accident for which you are to be compensated.

Legal Doctrines That Protect Injured Victims

There are several rules and principles that protect the victims after an injury. Some of them are as follows:

The Eggshell Skull Rule Explained

The “eggshell skull rule” (otherwise referred to as the “thin skull rule”) is a legal doctrine that shields accident victims who have pre-existing conditions.

The rule provides that defendants must “take their victims as they find them” and assume responsibility for all subsequent damage even when the victim was disproportionately vulnerable to harm from a pre-existing condition. 

In real-world terms, if you previously had asymptomatic degenerative disc disease but had it made painful and disabling by a car accident, the negligent driver remains at fault for that worsening, even though someone without disc disease would have recovered faster.

Burden of Proof in Aggravation Cases

As the injured party, you bear the burden of proving that the accident aggravated your pre-existing condition. This typically requires demonstrating: 

• Your condition was stable or less severe before the accident 
• The accident directly caused a worsening of symptoms or new complications 
• Your current treatment relates to this worsening, not just maintenance of the pre-existing condition 

Medical expert testimony plays a critical role in meeting this burden. Doctors who can clearly articulate how the accident changed your condition (referencing objective findings like MRIs, X-rays, or clinical examinations) provide powerful evidence for your claim.

Challenges You May Face When Claiming Compensation

Did you think everything is going to go smoothly? Well, I’m sorry to break your bubble, but NO.

You will feel certain challenges when dealing with car accident aggravated pre-existing condition settlement.

Insurance Company Tactics

Insurance providers use a variety of strategies to limit payments when pre-existing conditions do exist: 

They first try to assert that your injuries are all pre-existing, i.e., that any pain or restriction you feel would have happened regardless of what the accident was. That is a fault-diversion tactic aimed at their insured driver. 

Second, insurers also commonly ask for decades- or centuries-long medical histories. While they have a right to pertinent medical history, they use these open-ended questions to look for any conceivable pre-existing condition they can in order to cut your claim down.  

Third, insurance companies sometimes demand independent medical exams (IMEs) from physicians they hire. These exams never help the claimant and prefer to probe pre-existing conditions rather than accident-caused injuries. 

Distinguishing New Injuries from Old Ones

Separating accident-injured injury from pre-existing condition demands immediate and ongoing medical treatment.

Having consulted a physician immediately after the crash creates a clear-cut timeline of when new symptoms started or old ones got worse. 

Comparative examination of pre- and post-crash medical records offers definitive evidence. Pre-crash and post-crash MRI, for instance, can indicate new disc herniation or heightened inflammation not present previously; conclusive evidence of worsening due to the accident. 

Strategies for Strengthening Your Case

Here are the strategies that you need to use when dealing with car accident aggravated pre-existing condition settlement:

Disclosing Pre-Existing Conditions Honestly

Be honest with your doctors and lawyers about your medical history. Trying to conceal pre-existing conditions always backfires when insurance adjusters discover them during an investigation, gutting your credibility and claim worth. 

Honesty establishes credibility with insurers, jurors, and judges. By admitting your pre-existing conditions but clearly demonstrating how the accident exacerbated them, your claim is more believable, not less. 

Working With the Right Medical Providers

The right healthcare providers can make or break your case. Seek treatment from doctors who will: 

• Provide documentation that clearly distinguishes between your pre-existing baseline and post-accident condition 
• Specify in their notes how the accident aggravated your condition 
• Offer opinions about what portion of your current treatment relates to the accident versus what would have been necessary regardless 

Avoid gaps in treatment, as these suggest to insurers that your injuries aren’t serious or continuous. Regular appointments create a medical record that supports ongoing impairment related to the accident. 

How Attorneys Prove Aggravation of Pre-Existing Conditions

Skilled car accident lawyers use a number of means to address the problem of existing conditions.

They utilize medical professionals able to determine causation between the accident and increasing symptoms. They examine your entire medical history, locating just where the accident altered your condition. 

Moving Forward With Your Claim

Pre-existing conditions complicate automobile accident claims but do not exclude fair compensation.

Understanding how pre-existing conditions affect your claim is the key to protecting your rights and obtaining fair compensation for unintentionally caused aggravations. 

The success elements are complete disclosure of your medical history, early ongoing medical care, gathering comparative medical evidence, and using qualified legal counsel thoroughly familiar with the complexities of pre-existing condition cases.

Read Also:

• What Happens If Someone Else Is Driving My Car And Gets In An Accident?
• What to Do If the At-Fault Car Driver Is Uninsured or Underinsured
• Types of Damages Available in Personal Injury Cases