Common Tricks Insurance Companies Play Claiming Pre-Existing Injuries

One common trick played by insurance companies is to claim that a personal injury victim's injuries were "pre-existing" and therefore, their insured is not responsible for any damages. In truth, there are seldom any true cases involving "pre-existing injuries" when that term is given its plain and ordinary meaning.

A true "pre-existing injury" is one that already exists and was not affected by a new occurrence. Thus, if I already had a fractured leg and was involved in a serious car accident, my lawyer could not claim the fractured leg was caused in the car accident. This is so obvious that it almost never occurs.

Rather, consumers need to understand that simply because they have a past injury it does NOT prevent them from retaining a personal injury lawyer and filing a claim for a personal injury. In fact, it is their right to do so.

Every first year law student learns about the "eggshell plaintiff doctrine" in his or her Torts class. The law recognizes that a pre-existing injury could make you more likely to suffer from an additional injury, even from a relatively mild collision. By law, the victim of an automobile collision must be accepted in the condition they were at the time of the collision. This means the person or people responsible for an automobile collision are fully liable for all injuries sustained by the victim, no matter how unforeseeable such injuries might be. Car accident attorneys refer to this as the "Eggshell Plaintiff" or "Eggshell Skull" principle, based on the idea that a theoretical victim's condition may be so fragile that the slightest contact caused substantial injury to the victim. This concept applies to mental as well as physical injuries such as considering impact of an assault on Vietnam veteran's post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Thus, consumers should know that insurance companies are fully liable for their insured's negligence that causes an aggravation or exacerbation of a pre-existing injury.

Also, the Eggshell Plaintiff principle only pertains to the damages a personal injury victim may recover. The Eggshell Plaintiff principle does not affect the standards for liability when determining fault for the automobile accident.

It is important for your injury attorney to understand your complete medical history to overcome these tricks played by the insurance companies and accurately present your case. Otherwise, insurance company defense lawyers will attempt to distort the record, distort the truth, and avoid taking responsibility for the injuries caused by their clients.