Do pre-existing conditions affect personal injury claims?

Do pre-existing conditions affect personal injury claims?
SHARE

If you have been in an accident and have suffered injuries, you may be working with a personal injury attorney to file a claim against whoever is responsible. Your days may now be occupied with medical appointments, treatments, therapies, and more while your lawyer forges ahead with the investigation of the accident and puts together the legal documents needed for your case to move forward. You may not expect to hit a bump in your legal road because you have a pre-existing condition.

Sadly, it is very common to find that the assumption on which many personal injury claims are based is that all the victims experience a state of perfect health until the accident when they suffer the injuries. Since this is not the case, it is important to know what role pre-existing conditions play in the ultimate amount an accident victim may be entitled to recover.

How are pre-existing conditions dealt with in personal injury cases?

In a personal injury case, the victim will not be entitled to receive any payment related to injuries or conditions that were unaffected by the accident. However, suppose your pre-existing condition worsens because of the accident. In that case, you may be able to receive compensation for the worsening of your condition and also for the impact this has on your mental health if you are dealing with conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Facing Questions About Your Pre-existing Condition

If your pre-existing condition plays a role in the compensation you are seeking, you may have to talk to the lawyer or the insurance company representing the other party. They may want to know how the condition impacted your life before the accident and to what point it has progressed since.

While your attorney will make every effort to establish the degree to which your condition has worsened due to the accident, the team on the other side will insist on blaming everything that is affecting your health now on the pre-existing condition and not on the accident itself. They will try to blame even the most minor and unrelated symptoms on your condition in order to get out of handing over any payment at all or giving you a very low settlement offer.

No Reason to Be Discouraged

Your pre-existing condition should not be a reason for you not to pursue compensation for your injuries. If you have been managing your condition with regular medical care and treatment, your medical records should show concrete evidence of how things were before the accident.

Your personal injury lawyer will use your detailed records to establish how your medical condition affected your life before and how it is now. However, the insurance company will use the same records to try and find any possible evidence that the accident had only a minimal effect on your health.

Still, there is no reason for you to get discouraged. Your best defense is to hire an experienced personal injury attorney to represent you. You can click here to read more on how your lawyer will use your medical records to help get you the compensation you deserve.


SHARE

Katherine is just getting her start as a journalist. She attended a technical school while still in high school where she learned a variety of skills, from photography to nutrition. Her enthusiasm for both natural and human sciences is real so she particularly enjoys covering topics on medicine and the environment.

Post Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.