Does a Pre-Existing Condition Impact My Car Accident Case?
When you have been injured in a car accident, you are entitled to compensation for all of the ways that your injuries have affected you. The dedicated car accident lawyers in Riverside at Heiting & Irwin will fight for you to get you every dollar you deserve.
If you have a pre-existing condition, that could complicate your car accident claim. The insurance company will claim that your medical condition did not really result from the car accident. You may be forced to go through a very difficult legal process that is heavy on medical evidence to try to show how the car accident affected you or made your health worse.
Call the car accident attorneys at Heiting & Irwin at 951-682-6400 to learn more about how you can pursue financial compensation for your injuries. We take the time to learn about you and the facts of your case to advise you and to plan the legal path forward.
You Can Be Compensated if the Accident Worsened Your Condition
You may not have been completely healthy at the time that you were injured in an accident. You may have had a pre-existing condition that made you more likely to be hurt. You could still be compensated for your injuries in spite of your pre-existing condition, but you can expect a difficult case.
The Rule of Causation in a Personal Injury Case
In order to prove that the other party involved in your accident owes you money, you need to prove four elements. Causation is one element in the legal test. You must prove that you have been injured due to the careless actions of the defendant.
The insurance company will seek to argue that their policyholder’s actions were not the true cause of your injuries because you were already hurt, or had a condition that limited you and your activities. They may claim that you would have been in your present condition regardless of what the insured party did.
The Eggshell Plaintiff Rule in a Personal Injury Case
The proper rule in a personal injury case is that the wrongdoer “takes their victim as they find them.” It should not matter whether you have a predisposition to suffer a certain injury based on your prior medical condition. One description of this law involves the “eggshell plaintiff”. Although this is somewhat of a hyperbole, it stands for the fact that someone could still be responsible for an injury even though the injured parts were as fragile as an eggshell.
How You Are Compensated When You Have a Pre-Existing Condition
Your personal injury compensation would be based on “aggravation” of your pre-existing condition. For example, if you had an existing back problem, but you suffered a herniated disc due to the car accident, you would be paid for the disc injury, not for your prior back condition.
You can expect the insurance company to claim that all of your claimed damages relate to a pre-existing condition and not to your subject injury, so they can pay you as little as they can. We need to be prepared to prove that your damages stemmed from an aggravation of your condition, even in the face of strong resistance from the insurance company.
How to Handle a Pre-Existing Injury in a Claim
When a claim is presented to the insurance company, the injured party needs to be upfront about their medical history. Otherwise, they put their legal case in jeopardy. When it is time, you must give the insurance company as complete of a picture as possible. It will be up to your car accident attorney to advise you, advocate for you and push back if the insurance company is mischaracterizing your injuries.
Here, the medical records of your pre-existing condition will be relevant to your case. They can show exactly what your pre-existing condition was, and medical experts can testify why what happened to you caused it to worsen.
With a dispute about your damages, you can expect a case that is very medically intensive. The hope is that we would be able to resolve your case in settlement negotiations. If not, we would need to take your case to a jury and have them decide what the accident caused and the amount of damages to which you are entitled.
Contact a Riverside Car Accident Law Firm Today
If you have been hurt in a crash, reach out to the experienced car accident lawyers at Heiting & Irwin. You can speak to a car accident attorney in a free initial consultation by calling us today at 951-682-6400.
