Will A Pre-Existing Condition Affect My Personal Injury Case?

Under normal circumstances, a person who has been injured in an automobile accident or other incident caused by the carelessness of another person is entitled to receive financial compensation from the other party. This is done through a personal injury claim and often goes to a courtroom to see the funds distributed to the injured person. Each personal injury case is different and various factors can influence them, including one that is questioned a lot: pre-existing conditions.

People will often ask if having a pre-existing condition invalidates a personal injury claim? After all, if they had a condition to begin with, then surely the injuries were caused by this and not the accident? This is actually often not the case. While this kind of situation can certainly come up, it is only true for injuries and conditions that are completely unrelated. In this case, the pre-existing condition could not be used as an excuse to gain unwarranted compensation.

As it is more often the case, however, a pre-existing condition can actually help a personal injury case if it can be shown that the accident or injury-causing event aggravated the condition or caused it to flare up. The main argument here is that the condition would not have worsened or appeared again if not for the incident. 

The important thing to remember during the personal injury case is to be transparent about having a pre-existing condition. Being upfront about one will strengthen the claim that the injury aggravated it and also help garner sympathy from a judge and jury. Hiding a condition, however, will likely lead others to believe that there is something to hide and therefore hurt the chances of winning the case.

Ultimately, a pre-existing condition will likely not impact your personal injury case and can even be beneficial to note in most situations. Whenever you are going through a personal injury case, it is always a good idea to consult with an attorney to determine the best strategy for navigating the case and its various complications. To learn about how we at the Franco Law Firm can serve you in this role, please call us at (813) 872-0929 and schedule a free consultation with us today.