How Do Pre-Existing Conditions Affect Motorcycle Accident Claims?
Key takeaways: Pre-existing conditions can make motorcycle accident claims more complex, as insurers may argue your injuries weren’t caused by the crash. In Colorado, the “eggshell skull” rule ensures you can still recover damages for any aggravation of a prior condition. Success depends on proving how the accident worsened your health through detailed medical records, treatment history, and symptom tracking. Always disclose conditions, seek prompt care, and document changes to protect your rights and maximize compensation.
Motorcycle accidents often result in devastating injuries that can significantly impact your quality of life. This is especially true for riders with pre-existing conditions. In many instances, a motorcycle accident can exacerbate a pre-existing condition, resulting in more serious health issues than you previously experienced.
Pre-existing conditions can impact a future motorcycle accident claim you file to recover compensation for your damages. While these conditions don’t prevent you from receiving the compensation you deserve, they can make your case more complex. It’s critical to work with an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer who understands the ways in which a pre-existing condition will impact your case to ensure your rights are protected throughout the process.
What Counts as a Pre-Existing Medical Condition?
A pre-existing condition refers to any injury or health issue you had prior to the motorcycle accident. Pre-existing conditions can be related to chronic pain conditions, systemic health issues or prior injuries.
Common examples of pre-existing conditions that may impact your motorcycle accident case include:
- Chronic pain from arthritis
- Fibromyalgia, nerve pain and other chronic conditions that impact mobility or cause pain
- Neck injuries
- Herniated discs, sciatica and other back injuries
- Any underlying condition which resulted in the need for surgery in the past
- Prior concussions or other brain injuries
- Systemic health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions or autoimmune disorders
- Previous injuries that never healed properly and still bother you
Motorcycle Accidents Can Aggravate Pre-Existing Conditions
In many instances, a motorcycle accident can aggravate a pre-existing condition and make it worse. When this happens, you may experience more severe pain and even require additional medical treatments that wouldn’t have been necessary before the accident. When a motorcycle accident aggravates a pre-existing condition, you may be entitled to recover compensation for any additional complications that occurred due to the accident, but not for the issues you experienced prior to the accident.
How Do Pre-Existing Conditions Complicate a Motorcycle Accident Case?
The goal of insurance companies is to pay as little money as possible on your motorcycle accident claim. One of the ways they do this is by trying to uncover evidence of a pre-existing condition. After your motorcycle accident, the insurance company will often go through your past medical records to look for evidence of similar complaints or symptoms as well as potential treatments for a similar injury or condition.
When you have a pre-existing condition, they will often leverage this fact to try and unfairly reduce the value of your claim or in some instances, deny it outright. Some of the arguments the insurance company might make to try and reduce the value of your compensation include:
- Your current pain is all due to the pre-existing condition and wasn’t caused by the accident at all
- A degenerative pre-existing condition would’ve caused the same issues to develop even if the accident hadn’t occurred
- You failed to disclose your pre-existing condition at the start of the lawsuit (this argument can be used to undermine your credibility)
When insurance companies try to claim that your current symptoms are due to a pre-existing condition and not part of a new injury, it can complicate your motorcycle accident case. While you’re not entitled to compensation for issues you were experiencing prior to the accident, you can receive compensation for the ways in which the accident aggravated your condition.
In these situations, it will be important to provide medical experts who can document the ways in which the motorcycle accident made the condition more painful, harder to treat, longer lasting, or required additional medical procedures that wouldn’t have been necessary prior to the accident.
The Eggshell Skull Rule Protects You in the Event of a Pre-Existing Injury
Colorado adheres to the eggshell skull rule in situations where accident victims have a pre-existing condition. This rule has been established to protect personal injury victims and preserve their right to compensation when they have a pre-existing injury. The eggshell skull rule states that a negligent party is still responsible for all the damages associated with an accident they caused, even if the existence of a previous condition made you more injury prone or susceptible to suffering greater injuries.
In other words, the negligent party is still responsible for compensating you for any damages you suffered due to their actions, even if these damages are more severe than what would’ve been expected from someone without your pre-existing condition. This law is critical to protecting your rights and prevents you from being punished for being more vulnerable to injury due to a pre-existing condition.
Calculating the Value of Damages When You Have a Pre-Existing Condition
You’re entitled to recover the same types of damages in a motorcycle accident case regardless of whether you have a pre-existing condition. These include:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life
However, the presence of a pre-existing condition may impact the way these damages are calculated. Colorado law states that motorcycle accident damages must be apportioned. This means you can only recover compensation for the portion of your damages caused by the new accident, not the portion associated with any pain or issues you experienced prior to the accident.
Your ability to accurately calculate the value of damages apportioned to the new accident will depend on how well you provide documentation. This may include:
- Medical records that demonstrate the severity of your condition prior to the accident vs. after the accident (i.e. increased treatments and medical visits after the accident are a sign your condition was made worse)
- Medical bills before and after the accident
- Prescription costs before and after the accident
- Work attendance records and lost wage statements
- Receipts for any medical equipment or home modifications required after the accident
Common Mistakes to Avoid if You Have a Pre-Existing Medical Condition
If you have a pre-existing condition, it’s even more important to take the proper steps to protect your rights throughout the legal process. Make sure to avoid the following common mistakes which can negatively impact your ability to maximize your compensation when you have a pre-existing condition:
- Failing to Disclose Your Pre-Existing Condition – Always be honest and upfront about any pre-existing medical conditions you have. Failing to disclose these conditions can damage your credibility and jeopardize your compensation. Always disclose your pre-existing conditions to your motorcycle accident lawyer at the start of the process so they can make sure they’re handled properly during your case.
- Downplaying the Severity of Your Injuries – You may be used to dealing with pain as part of your pre-existing condition, but that doesn’t mean you should downplay your symptoms following an accident. Downplaying the severity of your pain and other symptoms can make it harder to prove the accident aggravated the severity of these issues.
- Delaying or Failing to Seek Treatment – If you don’t notice a significant difference in the severity of your pain and symptoms after the accident, you may feel inclined to skip getting checked out by a doctor. However, seeking prompt medical treatment is critical to your ability to document the ways in which the accident aggravated your condition.
- Failing to Keep Detailed Records – It’s common for individuals with chronic conditions to get sloppy documenting the issues they experience after an accident, but these records can be critical to your ability to recover the compensation you deserve. Always keep detailed records of daily pain levels, the specific activities you can no longer perform after the accident, changes in sleep patterns, changes in the effectiveness of medications you take, and any ways in which your quality of life has been diminished.
Pushchak Law Can Help After a Motorcycle Accident
If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident caused by the negligence of another driver, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your damages even if you have a pre-existing condition. At Pushchak Law, we can ensure your rights are protected during this difficult time.
Brian Pushchak has made motorcycle accident cases a primary focus of his practice. He’s handled many cases involving pre-existing conditions, and he understands the ways in which this can impact your case. Mr. Pushchak will make sure all your injuries are properly documented so that you can accurately demonstrate the ways the accident have aggravated your condition. This specialized expertise is critical to helping you maximize the value of your compensation.
When you work with Pushchak Law, you’ll benefit from our exclusive Informed Decisions™ Approach focused on helping you achieve the best possible outcome to your case. This unique approach to motorcycle accident claims keeps you in control of the process at all times. Mr. Pushchak will discuss your goals for the case with you and explain your legal options in detail, taking as much time as needed to answer all your questions. While Mr. Pushchak will propose the legal strategy he believes is best to achieve your goals, you’ll always have the final say on the way your case is handled.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation. Pushchak Law serves clients in Denver and the surrounding areas of Colorado.
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