After a serious car accident, insurance companies often look closely at your medical history. They may review past back pain, old knee injuries, arthritis, degenerative disc disease, previous physical therapy, earlier accidents, and even old test results. The insurer might claim that your current symptoms were already present before the crash and shouldn’t be part of your claim.
However, this does not automatically take away your right to compensation under Illinois law. You do not need to be in perfect health before an accident to recover damages if another driver’s negligence caused a new injury or made an existing condition worse.
For people hurt in Hoffman Estates and the northwest suburbs, questions about medical history can be a key part of an auto accident claim. The main concern is usually not whether you had a previous condition, but how things changed after the crash. A Hoffman Estates Auto Accident Lawyer can look at your condition before and after the accident, collect the medical evidence needed to show what caused your injuries, and respond if the insurance company tries to blame your new symptoms on an old problem.
Why Insurance Companies Investigate Your Medical History
When an injured person seeks compensation after a crash, the liability insurance company has a financial reason to determine whether another explanation exists for the injuries. If someone develops severe lower back pain after a rear-end collision, for example, the insurer may search earlier medical records for complaints involving the same area of the spine. If an old record mentions back pain or an earlier MRI shows degeneration, the insurer may argue that the new collision caused little or no additional injury.
Insurance companies commonly investigate prior car accidents, workplace injuries, sports injuries, surgeries, chiropractic care, physical therapy, pain management, injections, and earlier diagnostic testing. They may also look closely at chronic conditions such as arthritis, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, joint degeneration, migraines, or neurological problems. In more serious injury cases, the carrier may compare years of medical records in an effort to establish that the claimant had similar complaints before the accident.
That does not necessarily mean the prior records hurt the claim. In many cases, they may actually help establish what changed. A person who had occasional back pain five years earlier but had returned to normal activities may be in a very different medical position after a high-impact collision that causes radiating pain, numbness, work restrictions, injections, or surgery.
A Pre-Existing Condition Does Not Automatically Defeat An Illinois Injury Claim
Illinois law recognizes that an accident victim may recover damages for the aggravation of a pre-existing condition. Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction Civil 30.21 specifically addresses this issue and explains that damages should not be denied or limited merely because the plaintiff had a pre-existing condition or was more susceptible to injury than another person might have been.
This principle can be especially important in cases involving the spine, knees, shoulders, hips, and other body parts where degenerative changes are common. An MRI may show arthritis or degeneration that existed before the accident, but the legal question is whether the crash caused a new injury or made the existing condition materially worse. The fact that another person with a completely healthy spine might have suffered a less serious injury does not necessarily relieve the negligent driver of responsibility for the actual harm caused.
Consider a person who had mild degenerative disc disease but was working full time, exercising, and living without serious limitations. After a collision, that same person develops severe radiculopathy, cannot sit for extended periods, requires epidural injections, and eventually undergoes surgery. The insurance company may emphasize that the degeneration existed first, while the injured person may have strong evidence that the crash transformed a manageable condition into a disabling one.
How Insurance Companies Try To Blame An Old Condition
Insurance companies often argue that you were already hurt before the accident. They might point to an old complaint about your neck, back, shoulder, knee, or another area and say the crash did not cause your current symptoms. This argument can seem convincing until your full medical history is reviewed.
It’s important to look at more than just diagnoses. You should also consider how bad and how often the symptoms were, what treatment you had before the crash, what medications you took, any physical limits, work restrictions, and how well you could do daily activities. Someone who saw a doctor once for mild back pain two years ago is not in the same situation as someone who now has constant pain, weakness, numbness, and can’t work after the accident.
Insurance companies often focus on MRI terms like “degenerative disc disease,” “spondylosis,” “disc desiccation,” “stenosis,” and “osteoarthritis.” These terms are important for doctors to review, but they do not automatically prove that the accident caused no injury. Imaging results should be looked at along with how the crash happened, new symptoms, physical exams, treatment history, and doctors’ opinions about what caused the injury.
Why Prior Medical Records Can Sometimes Strengthen A Claim
Previous medical records are not always harmful. In the right circumstances, they can provide a useful baseline that demonstrates how significantly the person’s condition changed after the crash. A claimant who had periodic neck treatment several years earlier but had no treatment, work restrictions, or substantial symptoms immediately before the collision may be able to show a clear difference between the old condition and the new injuries.
Older imaging studies can sometimes be especially valuable. If a prior MRI exists, physicians may be able to compare it with post-accident imaging to determine whether there are new findings or significant changes. Even when imaging appears similar, a doctor may explain that trauma caused a previously asymptomatic or manageable condition to become symptomatic and disabling.
This is why medical history should usually be addressed directly rather than avoided. A properly documented claim can acknowledge a pre-existing condition while clearly explaining the new consequences of the accident. The objective is not to pretend the claimant had never experienced pain before. The objective is to establish what the collision actually caused.
Hiding Prior Treatment Can Create Serious Credibility Problems
An injured person should be accurate when discussing prior accidents, injuries, and medical treatment. Insurance companies investigate claims, and relevant prior medical information may eventually become available through records, claim databases, or formal discovery if a lawsuit is filed. If a claimant denies ever having back problems and the insurer later obtains years of treatment records for back pain, the dispute may shift from medical causation to credibility.
A better approach is to explain the medical history truthfully and place it in context. The claimant may have experienced a prior injury, completed treatment, returned to work, and resumed normal activities before the new collision. Those facts may help show that the current symptoms represent a genuine change rather than the continuation of an old condition.
Once a lawsuit is filed, Illinois civil procedure permits formal discovery. 735 ILCS 5/2-1003 recognizes discovery methods that can include depositions, interrogatories, requests involving documents, and physical or mental examinations when legally appropriate. The statute also provides specific protections concerning physical and mental examinations, including the right in certain circumstances to have an attorney or another person present and to designate another person to video record the examination.
Treatment Gaps Can Also Be Used Against Accident Victims
Insurance companies examine what happened after the crash just as closely as what happened before it. If there is a substantial delay between the accident and the first medical visit, the carrier may argue that the injury was not serious or that another event caused the symptoms. A lengthy interruption in treatment can lead to a similar argument.
There are many legitimate reasons treatment may be delayed. A person may have difficulty obtaining an appointment, lack health insurance, struggle with transportation, be unable to miss work, have childcare responsibilities, or initially believe that the pain will improve without extensive medical care. Symptoms may also temporarily improve before returning or becoming more severe.
These circumstances should be documented when possible. The insurer may otherwise attempt to fill the gap with its own explanation. Consistent medical care and accurate communication with medical providers can help establish the progression of symptoms after the accident.
Contact A Hoffman Estates Auto Accident Lawyer At Hess Injury Law Firm
Insurance companies routinely look for reasons to reduce what they pay after a serious collision. An old diagnosis, previous accident, degenerative disc disease, arthritis, prior surgery, or earlier treatment may become part of that strategy. The existence of a pre-existing condition does not automatically mean the insurance company’s position is correct, and it does not automatically eliminate the injured person’s right to pursue compensation.
Hess Injury Law Firm can examine the client’s complete medical history, compare the condition before and after the crash, investigate the collision, gather medical and financial evidence, address allegations of comparative negligence, and pursue compensation supported by Illinois law and the facts. Founding attorney Matt Hess’s prior experience working for a major insurance carrier also provides valuable insight into how insurers investigate and evaluate accident claims.
Contact our Hoffman Estates car injury lawyers by calling (847) 708-4377 to receive your free consultation. The firm can review how the crash occurred, explain how prior medical conditions may affect the claim, identify insurance coverage and filing deadlines, and discuss what evidence may be necessary to protect the injured person’s right to compensation.
