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Don’t Let Previous Injuries Hurt You Twice

If you have recently been hurt in a car accident, chances are good that you are mainly focused on how to heal from your current injuries and how to handle your medical bills.

The last thing a person wants to think about after getting into an auto accident prior injuries that you have had. However, your previous injuries and accident history is critical information that may end up severely limiting your ability to collect compensation if you are not up front and truthful with your attorney.

Why is that?


Insurance companies will stop at nothing to limit the amount of money they have to pay out for claims, and you can bet that their investigators will dig up every bit of information that they can find to use against you.

The insurance company's strategy in obtaining information about your prior injuries will be to show a link between your current injuries and some accident or injury you have had in the past. It is important to let your attorney know about any and all previous injuries you may have had so that a proper argument and defense can be prepared to deal with the insurance company's tactics. You should never let the insurance company be the first one to know about your history.

Clearly suffering a previous injury does not mean you were not hurt by the current accident but an insurance company will use this knowledge in attempt to limit their liability. For example, a person could fall and break there arm as a child and their arm could completely heal but then
years later this same arm could be re-injured as the result of an auto accident. The injured party should be compensation for their injured arm but the insurance may try to avoid paying for the medical bills by claiming the injuries were the result of a previous condition in the injured parties arm.

The key with previous injuries is to demonstrate the "bright line" test to the insurance company. The "bright line" test is a way of showing the insurance company that your current injuries are directly related to your most recent accident and not from a previous injury. This is done by both reviewing your medical records and by your testimony. As an example, a person could have suffered a back injury in the past and then injured there back in an auto accident years later. To be compensable the injured party would need to show that the treatment for their back had stopped before the accident occurred, that they were no longer in need of treatment for their back and that they had regained normal activities before their back was re-injured by an auto accident. In short, the insurance company would be able to clearly see a "bright line" or gap between your previous treatment for your back and your current back problems resulting from the auto accident.

Be upfront with your attorney regarding any previous injuries you may have had and give yourself the best chance to collect for the injuries which you have suffered.

Find out more at MyrtleBeachCriminalLawyer.com
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