No doubt about it, having a prior injury or condition makes getting a settlement harder. But not impossible- you can be compensated if you get worsened by an accident. A South Carolina injury attorney explains how earning a good settlement here requires a skilled professional to do extra work with lots of clinical records to prove the worsening.
Transcript
Here's a question we get sometimes: “can I get a settlement if the accident ree injures a prior injury or makes it worse?” Yes! But you'll likely need a skilled injury lawyer who knows how to get medical evidence that's admissible in court and makes it clear how the accident made you worse. It's got to be done right because insurance claims representatives are going to say you can't recover for that. Their word for it is pre-existing condition. They'll tell you you already had these injuries anyway and they might even tell you it was only a matter of time before you have these problems. They can deny your claim or at least try to force you to settle cheap. So here's what we do to help you we go through potentially years of medical records analyzing your condition before the accident and how the accident made it worse. Many times we meet with your doctor to get his expert view of the harm caused to you by the accident. Sometimes this yields a simple but powerful medical questionnaire where your doctor clearly states the impact the accident had on your life. Of course our discussions with you play a big role in how we describe the way the accident impacted your life. So if you're worried about losing a settlement due to a prior injury contact us so we can discuss how we can increase your chances when the insurance company tells you it's a lost cause. I thank you for thinking about this with me and I hope I see you soon
