Being injured is a normal part of life. If you are lucky you’re injuries will heal quickly and you can forget about them completely. However, some people have to live with their injuries for the rest of their lives. Injuries such as knee or shoulder injuries from sports activities or chronic back pain developed from years of sitting at a desk can cause discomfort for many years to come. As if this weren’t enough, these injuries can be exacerbated in a car accident.
Be Honest about Your Injuries
Many car accident victims are afraid of revealing the history of their injuries. They believe that they won’t get compensation for the treatment of pre-existing injuries that worsened as a result of the accident. However, failing to reveal pre-existing injuries to your attorney can be detrimental to your case.
Insurance companies often seek to have pre-existing injuries excluded from the case. However, failing to reveal these injuries voluntarily will have an impact on how the court views your credibility as a plaintiff. The legitimacy of your claim will also come under question if you minimize the effects of a serious pre-existing injury.
The Law on Pre-existing Injuries
The good news for you is that the law allows for compensation to plaintiffs for pre-existing injuries that have been aggravated in a car accident. This is because the at-fault party is considered responsible for all the consequences resulting from the accident. This includes making an old injury worse.
You may also be treated as an eggshell plaintiff. Your attorney may argue that your injury caused you to be more susceptible to injury since it impaired you in some way. This argument can be quite effective where low-impact accidents are involved.
Examining Medical Records
Most people who have pre-existing injuries are either minimally affected or unaffected by the injury. Many people learn to live with their injuries. They may undergo physical therapy and other treatments to help reduce the pain or other effects of the injuries.
When your injury is aggravated in an accident, chances are that the level of severity of the injury will be much higher. You may require additional treatment for the injury as a result.
In order to determine the impact of the car accident on your injury, your medical records will have to be examined. A medical expert will also have to testify on the effect of the accident on your pre-existing injury.
It is important to seek the assistance of a reliable and experienced attorney to help you in making your claim.
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