Whiplash & Whiplash Injury St. Louis

FAQ

Pre Existing Injury Aggravated in Car Accident

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Not all St. Louis car accident claims are simple and straightforward. Here’s what you need to know if a pre-existing injury was aggravated in your car accident.

St. Louis car accident claim lawyer

Anyone who gets injured in a St. Louis car accident caused by the fault of another person or party is generally entitled to receive compensation for both economic and non-economic losses from the at-fault party. However, not all claims are simple because the circumstances surrounding every case differ. When making an injury claim following a car accident, some people wonder if their pre-existing medical condition or prior surgeries would influence their financial recovery.

For example, the victim who wants to make a claim had undergone a wrist fusion before the accident, and the fuse was not completely healed. The accident caused a fresh injury to the wrist, and the victim’s condition gets aggravated. In such cases, the victim would likely still be able to make a claim.

What Is a Pre-Existing Condition?

You may have heard the term “pre-existing condition” in the context of health insurance, and it means pretty much the same thing in the field of law. 

A pre-existing condition is any kind of health issue or injury that you experienced in the past, and has affected your health before your car accident. About 50% of all non-senior adults have a condition or injury that may count as a “pre-existing condition.” 

Medical History and Insurance Companies

When a person files a claim for a car accident injury that resembles any other injury in your medical history, the insurer will likely argue that the fresh injury is a mere aggravation of the pre-existing injuries. The victim does not have to accept this argument as they are legally entitled to fair compensation for their injuries whether they are new injuries or an aggravation of previous injuries.

Proving New vs. Pre-existing Injuries

No matter you have suffered a completely new injury or aggravated any previous injury, you need to prove it, and the best proof is your medical records. If the prior injuries have got aggravated then there would become overlap in the medical treatment. The victim would need the doctor’s help to prove whether the injuries are new and separate or pre-existing.

Doctor’s Statement

Make sure you tell your doctor everything about the car accident right from the start. Tell your doctor about all your symptoms no matter how minor they seem. Let the doctor know of the pain, soreness, numbness, tingling or any discomfort you felt on impact. The doctor’s opinion would be binding on you, and his/her diagnosis and prognosis of your car accident injuries in relation to the pre-existing injuries would be the best evidence in support of your claim.

Remember, insurance adjusters are trained and experienced and when you file a claim they would ask for your medical records. Although they do not have a legal right to check out your records, if you do not provide them, the adjuster can deny your claim. It is important to be honest about any pre-existing conditions or it can affect your credibility and of course, your injury claim too.

Do Pre-Existing Conditions Affect Compensation After a St. Louis Car Accident?

If you or a loved one had a pre-existing condition and then was seriously injured in a car accident in St. Louis that made the condition worse, you may be worried that this will affect their ability to get compensation. Let’s discuss the basics of pre-existing conditions and why it’s a good idea to discuss your pre-existing conditions with an experienced attorney.

car accident doctor

Can You Seek Damages For Pre-Existing Injuries & Conditions?

It’s not possible to seek damages for pre-existing injuries and conditions, as a general rule of thumb.

For example, if you have experienced back pain in the past and you’re taking prescription medication for the pain, then you are involved in a car accident that results in a broken leg or arm, you can only seek compensation for the broken leg or arm. If the accident did not affect your back, you can’t seek damages for this issue since it was a known and pre-existing condition. 

You May Be Able To Recover Compensation if Pre-Existing Injuries or Conditions Are Aggravated

Worried that a pre-existing condition will stop you from getting compensation for an injury caused by a car accident in St. Louis? In most cases, this won’t happen – because even though you can’t seek damages for pre-existing injuries, you may be able to get compensation if an auto accident makes the condition worse.

Using the above example again, let’s say that you have experienced back pain in the past, and are on pain medication for this issue. Then, you get in a serious accident that results in fractured back vertebrae.

In this case, you may still seek compensation for the injury, even though you have experienced back issues in the past. The injury to your vertebrae could aggravate or accelerate your previous back pain – which would not have happened if you were not involved in a St. Louis car accident.

Auto Accident Claims Attorney St. Louis

If you have a pre-existing condition and you suffer a fresh injury in an automobile accident, it would be in your best interests to get in touch with an automobile accident attorney to help you deal with the insurance company and obtain rightful compensation. Call (314) 361-4242 today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced St. Louis car accident lawyer.

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Click to Call: (314) 361-4242

Are Dashcam Videos Admissable in St. Louis Auto Accident Claims?

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Dashboard cameras, or dashcams, are increasing in popularity as a security measure for Missouri drivers. They are no longer present just in law enforcement vehicles, but regular people often purchase these pieces of equipment and install them in their own cars.

You may be wondering: in the event of a St. Louis car accident, is that footage admissible?

dashcam after car accident

Are Dash Cams Legal in Missouri?

The short answer is yes. Currently, there are no legal restrictions for dash camera usage in the state of Missouri. Many other states, however, do impose certain restrictions on dash cameras. So, if your accident takes place out of state and the matter needs to be resolved elsewhere, restrictions will likely apply to your car accident claim.

Dash cameras record and store videos, and are designed to operate independently. The driver does not need to perform any action while driving to activate it. Some more expensive equipment can have different types of features, such as parking mode where they continue to record video footage even when the vehicle stops.

Are These Videos Admissible?

According to Missouri courts, you can admit video footage of an accident into evidence. Most of the time, these cases go through one of the drivers’ insurance companies, who may or may not have dashcam policies. However, even if the company is reluctant to accepting dashcam videos or denies introducing them into evidence, your St. Louis car accident lawyer could argue it’s relevance and take the matters in front of a judge.

However, that doesn’t mean all dash camera footage is valuable or can help a case. For instance, if the video footage is of low quality (grainy, blurry, etc.) then it may not effectively show what happened at the scene.

This is often an issue particularly if the accident takes place at night. Most people purchase more affordable cameras that have a difficult time recording when there is little light, so it’s possible for the footage not to reveal anything important.

Speak With an Attorney

In the event of a car accident where you get injured, you may be entitled to compensation. Please contact an experienced St. Louis car accident lawyer before you file a claim with the other driver’s insurance company. These cases require a lot of evidence that proves your side of the story, and an attorney can help you acquire it. 

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How Much Is Your Pain and Suffering Worth?

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Unlike economic damages, things like pain and suffering are highly subjective and can be very different when calculated by an insurance company vs when they are calculated by your attorney.

neck injury st. louis

When you are in a car accident in Missouri, you are generally entitled to both economic and non-economic damages. If you are wondering how much your pain and suffering is worth, there are specific ways that both the insurance company and your lawyer will put a price on what you have been through. Since the insurance company’s main objective is to limit their liability and what they have to pay out, their calculation will likely be much less than one from an experienced attorney who has your best interests in mind.

Economic and Non-economic Damages: How Are They Calculated?

Economic damages are concrete damages that you incur when you are in an accident. They are things like medical bills and lost wages from time off from work. Non-economic damages, however, are much more subjective and are harder to calculate. After all, how can you put a price on how much someone has suffered? Since each person experiences pain differently, knowing how much it is worth is not an exact science; it’s instead calculated by using various factors.

The Multiplier Method

If you are in an accident, your St. Louis car accident lawyer will add up all the economic damages, like your medical bills and your lost wages, and come up with a sum. From there, they may assign a number relating to the severity of your injuries. Once they have decided on the severity by quantifying it, they use that as a factor to multiply your economic losses, add it to your non-economic losses, and that will be the total amount they believe you are entitled to.

The severity of your accident is usually determined by the extent of your medical bills and procedures. Usually, the more treatment you require, the higher the multiplier number will be. Again, since there is no exact, objective way to ascribe a multiplier, it is up to your insurance company and lawyer to negotiate.

The per Diem Method

The per diem method of calculating pain and suffering and non-economic damages is different. Your lawyer can calculate the amount of suffering you have incurred by taking the severity of your injuries and ascribing an amount that you are entitled to daily for your suffering. For instance, they could calculate that your suffering is worth $100 a day; if your symptoms last for 60 days, then your non-economic damages would be $60,000. It’s also a subjective number, so there might be a discrepancy between what your insurance company calculates and what your car accident lawyer determines.

Unlike economic damages, which are in writing and are indisputable, things like pain and suffering are highly subjective and can be very different when calculated by an insurance company versus when they are calculated by your attorney. In order to receive a fair settlement for your Missouri car accident, it is important that you consult with an experienced car accident attorney to make sure that you know what you deserve for all the pain you have been through.

The Hoffmann Law Firm, L.L.C.
7751 Carondelet Ave #601
St. Louis, MO 63105

Call 24/7 for a FREE Case Evaluation :: (314) 361-4242