Many people call our offices after a car wreck with the same concern: “I was hurt before, so does that ruin my case?”
Insurance Adjusters love to tell you it does. In reality, the opposite is true. Our office once represented a client through four separate car crashes. Her first two wrecks led to major treatments, including an ankle surgery and a back surgery. By the time another driver hit her again, her body was far more fragile than average. The new impact did not hit a pristine body. It hit a body doctor’s had already operated on.
Predictably, the insurance company tried to use her medical history against her. They argued the latest wreck did not matter because she was already injured. That argument sounds simple, it also sounds completely untrue under the letter of the law.
The Laws Take You As You Are
Personal injury law uses a key rule called the “eggshell plaintiff” doctrine. This rule states that a careless driver takes the victim as they find them.
You do not get a discount for hitting a vulnerable person. If a driver hits someone with prior surgeries or a weak back, that driver must still pay for the full harm they caused. A related rule covers the aggravation of pre-existing conditions. A new wreck often makes an old injury worse. It can reawaken pain or force you back into painful treatments. The law treats that new damage as a real, compensable injury. We did not ask if you were perfectly healthy before the crash. We ask what this specific crash did to you.
How Prior Injuries Strengthen Your Claim
For our client, those early surgeries did not lower the value of her later claim. They actually raised the stakes. Her prior surgeries meant her body had no room for error. The new crashes forced her to get painful steroid injections just to manage the daily pain. Someone without her medical history would bounce back faster. But after the trauma sustained, her body could not.
The secret to winning these cases comes down to clear medical records. We map out your exact health status right before the wreck. Then we show the new treatment, new limitations, and new pain that followed as a result. When you present the facts clearly through this sort of timeline, medical history ceases to be a weakness. It demonstrates just how much the new wreck took from you.
Do Not Let Insurance Adjusters Push You Around
Never let an insurance adjuster convince you that a prior injury ruins your claim. Your medical history is part of your story, not a strike against you. Kentucky law does not reward a bad driver just because they hit someone who was already hurt.
If an insurer claims your pre-existing condition destroys your case, contact our team today. We know how to protect your rights and fight until you receive full compensation.
Feel free to call us at 502-771-0588 or email aaronkemper@lawhelplouisville.com.