Recovering from an injury can derail your life, and adding a pre-existing condition to the mix may mean youโre experiencing symptoms worse than they may otherwise be. You find yourself searching for the answer to โWill a pre-existing injury affect my personal injury claim?โ The simple answer is yes, but there is nothing simple about personal injury law. If this is your situation, you need an experienced Kennesaw personal injury lawyer to help you defend your rights to compensation.
What can I expect when filing a personal injury claim with a pre-existing condition?
A pre-existing condition may make recovering your full compensation more challenging, but it will not change the legal process to claim it. A consideration for your personal injury claim, if you have a preexisting condition, is that you can only claim damages on exacerbation of your pre-existing condition and not the condition itself. While you are the one living with the condition every day, the additional symptoms may be evident to you, but providing adequate evidence for your claim can require documentation beyond what may be typical.
What are the barriers to filing a claim with a pre-existing condition?
The insurance company will often use pre-existing conditions to dismiss your injuries, claiming your symptoms are simply due to your condition, not the accident. This can make recovering your full compensation more challenging, though not impossible.
For example, imagine you already have back issues from a bulging disc and fall because of a negligent property manager. This may increase the severity of your symptoms or result in further treatment, like surgery, as a direct result of the accident. The challenge in this situation is providing adequate evidence and documentation that the accident made your back worse and that your symptoms are not a natural progression of your condition.
How can I protect my right to compensation if I have a pre-existing injury?
It is critical to remember that you are entitled to seek compensation for your injuries. This is granted by the Georgia Rules and Regulations, regardless of your health status prior to the accident. However, if you have a pre-existing condition that has left you vulnerable to a more severe injury, you likely need an experienced attorney to help you protect this right to fair and appropriate compensation.
Can I do anything to make filing a personal injury claim easier?
A critical component of a successful personal injury case is documentation, and there are a few things you can do to make it easier to gather and provide:
- Take photos of the scene and any injuries.
- Gather names of witnesses.
- Call the police to investigate the scene and write up a police report.
- Seek medical treatment immediately.
Will I need to provide previous medical records to recover compensation?
In most cases, you may need to provide medical records to support the injuries you sustained from the accident to recover compensation in a personal injury case. Still, if you have a pre-existing condition, itโs crucial to provide evidence of your medical status before the accident to support its impact on your health.
Georgia code 24-7-702 allows medical professionals to testify regarding your condition and how your accident may have affected it, including exacerbating your symptoms. To do this, you may need to share documents of your medical history. Our law firm can connect you with medical specialists who can diagnose your injuries and testify as to how they were made worse by the accident.
A pre-existing injury does not prevent you from filing a personal injury claim
A pre-existing injury can make your claim more complex to navigate, but you are still entitled to seek compensation for the injuries the accident caused. This is true even if your pre-existing injury made the damage you received from the accident worse than expected. Piedmont Injury Law is dedicated to supporting you in recovering the maximum compensation available. Call us at (678) 909-0770 or contact us online for a free case consultation today.