No one has perfect health history, most people have had previous injuries throughout their life that they have had to seek medical attention for. Whether they are previous injuries because of car accidents or recreational injuries, they are often used against claimants by ICBC when negotiating a settlement for your claim. Many people have substantial physical or emotional injuries that predate their car accident, these people often come to my office asking whether they have an injury claim against ICBC. They often worry that their injury claim against ICBC will be negated by the fact they have had previous health problems that predate their accident.
The definite answer is that you may still have a very strong claim even though you have pre-existing injuries. In many cases individuals who have pre-existing injuries are able to manage and cope with their injuries, even though they are in pain or have discomfort they may still be able to work, do housework or participate in recreational activities. However, if after the accident they are not able to do the same things they were doing before the accident than they have an injury claim and deserve to be compensated for the exasperation of their injuries.
Personal injury lawyers call cases such as these an aggravation of a pre-existing injury case. The lawyer will not make a claim for the entirety of your injuries or problems but will make a claim for the difference between how you were feeling before the accident and how you are feeling after your accident. It must be then determined whether there is increased pain and suffering due to the accident, if so, then you have an injury claim. If after the accident you are having problems with hobbies, housework or workplace discomfort that you were not having before your accident than it is essential that you be compensated for the increase in problems. In short, a lawyer will be able to determine the spread between what your life was like before your accident and after your accident. The most important question you should ask yourself is whether your injuries have been made worse because of the accident. Many people do not seek legal advice because they are under the assumption that if they have pre-existing injuries that pre-date their accident than they don’t have a claim. This is a false assumption, even though you may have had several injuries in your past if those injuries are made worse because of the accident than you have a claim against ICBC.
All personal injury lawyers deal with these types of situations, in many cases people come to our office with many injuries that pre-date their accident, many of them have had surgeries on their back or other body parts throughout their life, however, we make it abundantly clear that if your injuries have fully healed or if your injury has been irritated because of an accident then you should engage in rehabilitation and seek compensation. Our office recently dealt with a client who has had numerous surgeries and procedures on her back in the past five years, she was told by an ICBC adjuster that they would not pay her any compensation because of her severe back problem history. After seeking legal advice from our office, she was able get ICBC to pay for her rehabilitation costs and will be receiving compensation for her injuries.
If you have any questions please contact Anoop S. Bains at his office number, 604-503-4733.
