Prior injury aggraveted by accident | Insurance not paying

by Lu

I was injured in a car accident at the fault of the other driver. Soft tissue damage in my neck.

The chiro said it was permanent and I would need indefinte treatment. I have a pre-existing condition, 20 yrs ago I fractured 3 thoracic vertebra and have had on and off chiro treatments and pt over the years for pain and stiffness in my upper back and sometimes my neck.

Now, I'm much worse than before the accident. My question is, how can I prove that this accident aggravated an already existing condition and added new problems? What kind of records will the adjuster ask for? How far back?

Do I have to remember every single doctor I have seen? How much do I have to tell them?

Do I have to reveal that I saw a chiro a few yrs before the accident, will they want those records? Will they find out if I don't tell them? Thanks.

Answer:

Hello Lu,

The insurance company owes you to put you back in the position you were prior the accident. If they aggravated an injury, then they must pay for that pain and suffering caused.

The insurance company will send you a medical authorization form. There, they will ask you to give them authorization to contact all your doctors and every one that has anything to do with your health. This forms are very general in scope and they can give access to everything, even if you do not really want that.

You can limit the scope of this form, but drafting your own form or by "crossing of" language that you do not agree with. You can limit the records to only those records directly related to the accident on such and such date.

Do you want to reveal that you saw other doctors? or that you were badly injured before. Well that really depends. If you were completely recovered and you were doing much better before the accident, then you want to show that. That they put you in a significantly worse position that you were before the accident.

If in the other hand you were not feeling very good and you had thing flaring up all the time, then some information can be omitted as the insurance company will argue you were injured already, so they only owe you for the additional pain the caused, not the entire injury.

However, showing that you had a bad injury before, and that now you were even worse can be a powerful tool in your claim. It depends on how bad the injury is, and what your medical records say. This is one of those where consulting an attorney is essential to get the entire picture of the claim.

Also, visit: http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/prior-injuries.html for more information about prior injuries and how to deal with them.

You asked how much you have to tell them? If you are dealing with someone else's insurance company, you do not have to tell them anything that they don't ask for. And you only need to answer what you want to answer. You can decline to answer questions (you cannot lie). This is why having counsel in your case is good idea.


Good Luck,

http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com