How Pre-existing Conditions Affect Your Car Accident Claim
If you’ve been injured in a car crash and you already had a medical condition before the accident, you might wonder: Will this hurt my claim? The answer is—it depends. While pre-existing conditions can complicate your case, they do not automatically disqualify you from receiving compensation. In fact, with the right legal strategy and the support of an experienced car accident attorney Irvine, you may still be entitled to significant damages.
Let’s break down how California law handles pre-existing conditions in car accident cases—and how Bojat Law Group can help you protect your rights and maximize your recovery.
What Is Considered a Pre-Existing Condition?
A pre-existing condition is any health issue or injury you had before the accident occurred. This can include:
- Old back or neck injuries
- Previous surgeries
- Chronic pain or joint problems
- Arthritis or degenerative disc disease
- Mental health conditions like anxiety or PTSD
- Concussions or head trauma from prior incidents
Insurance companies often use these conditions to downplay the impact of the accident, arguing that your injuries were not caused by the crash—or that they would have happened anyway. That’s why proper documentation and experienced legal counsel are critical.
In this case, we’d use your medical records to prove the condition worsened significantly due to the accident. With the right documentation, you may receive compensation not only for the injury itself but also for future treatment, lost wages, and pain and suffering — especially when pursuing tpd superannuation claims.
The “Eggshell Plaintiff” Rule in California
California follows what’s called the Eggshell Plaintiff Doctrine. This means that the at-fault party must take the victim as they find them—even if the victim was more vulnerable to injury due to a pre-existing condition.
In other words, if the accident made your old injury worse or triggered new symptoms in an already fragile area, you’re still entitled to damages. The law does not allow insurers to deny your claim just because you weren’t in perfect health.
However, the burden is on you (and your attorney) to prove that the accident aggravated your condition.
Common Challenges with Pre-Existing Conditions
Insurance adjusters are trained to reduce payouts—and pre-existing conditions are their favorite excuse. Here’s how they might try to challenge your claim:
- Blame it on your medical history: They’ll say your pain is unrelated to the crash.
- Request access to all past medical records: Then cherry-pick notes to discredit your injury.
- Use gaps in treatment against you: If you delayed seeing a doctor post-accident, they’ll argue the injury wasn’t serious or wasn’t caused by the crash.
Without aggressive legal representation, many injury victims end up accepting low settlements—or get denied entirely.
How to Protect Your Claim
If you have a pre-existing condition, here’s how to strengthen your case from day one:
- Disclose honestly—but carefully. Never hide a pre-existing condition. Doing so can ruin your credibility. However, you should only disclose information that’s relevant to your claim. Let your attorney handle communication with insurers.
- Seek immediate medical care. Let a doctor document how the crash affected your body. If you were previously pain-free or stable—and now you’re not—that’s valuable evidence.
- Track any changes in your symptoms. Keep a journal of new or worsened pain, limited mobility, mental health struggles, or any other setbacks.
- Work with a legal team experienced in these cases. At Bojat Law Group, we collaborate with medical experts to show how the accident specifically aggravated your condition.
Real-World Example: Aggravated Back Injury
Let’s say you had minor lower back pain from years of desk work, but it never interfered with your daily life. After being rear-ended, the pain intensifies and now radiates down your legs. Imaging reveals a herniated disc that wasn’t there before.
In this case, we’d use your medical records to prove the condition worsened significantly due to the accident. With the right documentation, you may receive compensation not only for the injury itself but also for future treatment, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Why Bojat Law Group Is the Right Choice
At Bojat Law Group, we understand how insurance companies operate—and we don’t back down. Our team has successfully handled numerous cases involving pre-existing conditions and complex medical histories.
We will:
- Collect and review your full medical history
- Work with doctors to establish causation
- Push back on bad-faith insurer tactics
- Aggressively negotiate for the settlement you deserve—or take your case to court if needed
When your health is already fragile, you need a legal team that treats your claim with the care, strategy, and intensity it deserves.
Call Car Accident Attorney Irvine at Bojat Law Group
Having a pre-existing condition doesn’t eliminate your right to compensation—it just means your case requires more precision and a stronger legal approach. Whether your injuries were worsened by the crash or new symptoms emerged in an old injury, you still have rights under California law.
