If you or somebody you care about has sustained an injury caused by the actions of another individual or entity in Boulder, Colorado, you should be able to recover compensation for your losses. However, a pre-existing injury or illness could affect your personal injury claim in ways you do not anticipate. It is important to understand what pre-existing injuries are and how they could affect your current personal injury claim against another party.
Why Would a Pre-Existing Injury Change a Case?
When an injury occurs, insurance carriers will typically get involved quickly. This is particularly true for injuries that are caused by the careless or negligent actions of other parties. Insurance carriers will do anything they can to limit how much money they payout in a settlement because the goal is to maximize their profit. When they have to make settlements, they make less profit.
One of the tactics used by insurance carriers is to determine whether or not a claimant has any pre-existing injuries or illnesses that could be used to explain their current pain and suffering. This can include a wide variety of prior injuries or illnesses, such as:
- Previous work injuries
- Prior car accident injuries
- Fibromyalgia
- Arthritis diagnosis
- Sports injuries
Insurance carriers have various tactics that they use to discover whether or not a person has had a pre-existing injury or illness. Often, insurance claims adjusters will ask a claimant to sign a medical release authorization so they can process their claim. What many people do not realize is that these authorizations release their entire records. Individuals have to be very careful about releasing their medical records, and they should only release information related to the particular incident in question.
You Should Still be Able to Recover Compensation
The existence of a pre-existing injury or illness should not prevent a person from recovering compensation for a new injury caused by the actions of another individual or entity. Even though the insurance carriers may try and claim that the person’s pain and suffering has to do with the prior injury and not the current situation, this does not automatically mean that the at-fault party is not responsible.
The reality is that just about every individual has sustained a prior injury or illness of some sort. Even if a current incident exasperates a prior condition, the claimant should still be able to recover compensation for their losses from the at-fault party or the insurance carrier.
Contact a Skilled Boulder Injury Lawyer
If you or somebody you care about has sustained an injury caused by the actions of another individual or entity in Boulder, Colorado, reach out to an attorney as soon as possible. A skilled Boulder personal injury lawyer will fully investigate every aspect of the claim and help their client recover maximum compensation. A lawyer will be ready to handle any suggestion that a pre-existing injury is responsible for the current pain and suffering. The ultimate goal is to help a client recover the money they need for their medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering damages.