How Do Pre-Existing Conditions Affect Car Accident Settlements?

August 6, 2024

Colbert Cooper Hill Attorneys

You’ve been hurt in a car wreck, and you weren’t at fault. However, you have a pre-existing condition, the symptoms are back (or worse than they were before), and you need additional medical care.

When you have a car-accident-aggravated pre-existing condition, getting a fair settlement may be more difficult. The insurance company may try to get out of paying for your treatment by arguing that your symptoms had nothing to do with the wreck. But if another driver’s careless actions made your condition worse, you still deserve fair compensation. Proving that your pre-existing condition was made worse due to an auto accident often requires more extensive medical records. It’s also very beneficial to enlist the help of a skilled car accident lawyer, who can argue your case in definitive medical terms and call in a trusted medical professional to testify on your behalf.

What Counts as a Pre-Existing Injury or Condition?

A pre-existing condition is any medical concern that you had before getting into a car accident. This can include physical ailments, mental health problems, pre-existing injuries, and more.

Here are some examples, but this is not a comprehensive list. There are many conditions that personal injury claims would count as a pre-existing condition, including:

Degenerative back injuries, like a herniated disc
Prior injury such as broken bones or joint injuries
Traumatic brain injury
Chronic diseases like asthma, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disorders, and more
Mental health issues like anxiety, PTSD, depression, and more

If you have an existing condition that you’re already receiving treatment for (or are expected to need treatment for in the future), and the motor vehicle crash had no impact on your condition, you cannot seek compensation.

However, if the accident aggravates a pre-existing condition, you can seek settlement to pay for the treatment that you would not otherwise have needed.

For example, if you are in physical therapy for back pain that does not require surgery, but following the accident your condition has worsened to the point where surgery is necessary, your personal injury claim should cover the cost of the surgery and any additional treatment. However, it will not cover physical therapy sessions that you would have needed regardless.

A Pre-Existing Condition Can Affect Your Personal Injury Claim

Pre-existing injuries should not prevent you from obtaining fair compensation when a car accident aggravates an existing condition. However, insurance companies will look for any excuse not to pay for legitimate car accident claims. This is one of the big reasons that car accidents with pre-existing conditions are more complex to argue.

The insurance company will probably claim that the car accident did not cause any increased pain or injury, and reduce your payout accordingly. This means that you need a solid case establishing your pre-existing condition, and concrete medical evidence of any new injuries or aggravated injury caused by the car accident.

Because of this, you need to be up-front about your medical history, with medical records to show the extent of your pre-existing injury and your treatment. If you fail to disclose your pre-existing condition, and the insurance company finds out later, you will lose all credibility and risk any personal injury claim you may have.

This medical evidence can be used to establish what your condition was like before the accident (and what your projected future treatment costs would have been) versus your circumstances after the accident. This difference determines what kind of compensation you can rightfully claim.

As you can imagine, this can be very nuanced and complicated, especially when you should be focused on recovering from a car accident. We always recommend consulting with a personal injury lawyer for car accident cases, and it’s especially important for cases with a pre-existing condition that could reduce your claim. You need someone who understands personal injury law, who has experience in arguing cases like yours, and who has connections with medical experts who can help validate your case. In this situation, professional help can be invaluable to getting you the maximum payout that you deserve as an accident victim.

Tips for Car Accident Victims with Pre-Existing Conditions

Following a car crash, we typically have some advice for victims to document the events surrounding the accident, as well as their medical treatments and follow-up. This advice is especially true when complex factors like pre-existing conditions have the potential to complicate an insurance claim.

Following your car crash, make sure you:

Get thoroughly checked out by a medical professional, including detailed documentation of your pre-existing condition and how the accident affected your existing injuries.
Get a copy of the police report, which is often trusted as an objective account of the car accident, including who was at fault.
Do not sign a blanket release of your complete medical history for the insurance company. They only need to be provided with documents relevant to your specific injury. If you give them your complete medical history, they may dig through it to find anything they could twist to use against you.
Do not lie to the insurance company about your pre-existing condition. This could affect your credibility and your settlement, especially if the case goes to court.
Consult an attorney and be completely honest with them about your prior injuries. They need to understand the full picture of your health in order to develop a strategy to help you recover compensation.
It may be beneficial to keep detailed records of how you feel and how your injuries affect your daily life. You could maintain a pain diary, or record changes in your ability to complete everyday tasks. These can help show how your condition changed following the car accident.

For advice regarding your specific situation, contact the law offices of Colbert Cooper Hill.

Injured in a Car Crash? Call the Wolf Pack™ for Help

Car accidents can be life-changing events. When you are in pain, or experiencing increased anxiety and financial hardship, it can be difficult to negotiate with aggressive insurance companies.

That’s why you should call the Wolf Pack™. Our legal team has experience with personal injury cases with pre-existing illness or injury, and we can rely on our experience and extensive knowledge of the law to help you get the compensation you deserve.

For a free consultation to help you understand your legal options, please contact us at Colbert Cooper Hill by giving us a call or filling out our online form. We will fight for you, while you focus on recovery.