Having pre-existing conditions can make it harder to file a personal injury claim. These things, like any injuries or health problems you had before the accident, can affect how your claim is looked at. Knowing how pre-existing conditions affect an injury claim can help you deal with the legal system more easily.
What You Should Know About a Pre-Existing Conditions Injury Claim
A pre-existing condition is any injury, illness, or medical problem that was already there before the accident. These conditions can be long-term, like arthritis, or they can be injuries from accidents that happened in the past. The problem comes up when the accident makes an old injury worse, which could make the claim more complicated.
Injury Aggravation and How It Affects Claims
In many cases, an accident can make an already bad condition worse. This is called “injury aggravation.” For instance, someone who has hurt their back before might feel worse pain after slipping and falling. In these situations, the insurance company or the court will usually only pay for the part of the condition that got worse because of the new injury, not the whole thing. To make your case stronger, it’s important to show medical records that prove your injury got worse instead of showing that it was already there.
How Insurance Affects Claims and Negotiation
Insurance companies are always looking for ways to pay out less money, and pre-existing conditions can be used as an excuse to do so. They might say that the injury was caused by the accident and the pre-existing condition. But if you can show that the accident made the pre-existing condition a lot worse, you may still be able to get money for the aggravation. It’s important to have strong medical proof that shows how the accident made your condition worse when you are negotiating a claim.
Questions and Answers
How do pre-existing conditions change a claim for personal injury?
Pre-existing conditions can make claims more difficult because people may argue about whether the new injury is connected to the accident or the condition that was already there.
What does it mean to aggravate an injury?
Injury aggravation happens when an accident makes a pre-existing condition worse, which makes the new injury worse than it would have been otherwise.
What effect does insurance have on a claim for an injury that was already there?
Insurance companies might say that the injury is connected to the pre-existing condition, which could lower the amount of money you can get.