How Pre-Existing Back Injuries Affect Settlement Values in Rear End Collision Cases

Getting rear-ended is a shock to the system. You are sitting at a red light, thinking about dinner or the radio, and suddenly—bam. Your head snaps back, your adrenaline spikes, and your day is ruined. But for people who already live with back issues, that initial shock quickly turns into a very specific type of anxiety.

You aren’t just worried about the car or the immediate pain. You are worried because you know your medical history. Maybe you have dealt with sciatica for years, or perhaps you had a lumbar surgery a decade ago. The fear is instant: Will the insurance company refuse to help me because I already had a bad back?

It is a valid concern. Many people assume that a prior injury is a “get out of jail free” card for the driver who hit them. They think they can’t claim damages for a back injury if their back was already hurt.

The good news is that the law sees it differently. Having a history of back pain makes your case more complicated, sure, but it does not disqualify you from getting a fair settlement. Actually, there are legal rules specifically designed to protect people who are more vulnerable to injury.

You Take the Victim as You Find Them

To understand your rights, you have to understand a legal rule known as the “Eggshell Plaintiff” doctrine.

Here is how it works. Imagine a driver is texting and slams into a car stopped at a light. If the person they hit is a linebacker in perfect health, that person might walk away with a stiff neck for a few days. But if they hit an elderly person with brittle bones, that same impact could cause a fracture.

The law says the at-fault driver is responsible for the actual damage they caused, regardless of how fragile the victim was. They don’t get a discount just because you were more susceptible to injury than someone else.

Drawing a Line in the Sand

While the law is on your side, winning the argument with an insurance adjuster takes work. The goal here isn’t to trick anyone into fixing your old problems. The goal is to get compensated for the aggravation of those problems.

We have to prove that the crash made things worse. Your legal team and your doctors need to paint a clear picture of “before” and “after.” We need to draw a line in the sand that separates the pain you were used to living with from the new suffering caused by the crash.

We usually look at three specific areas to prove this:

1. The Nature of the Pain

Think about how your back felt a month before the accident. Maybe it was a dull, low-level ache that flared up when it rained. Now, compare that to how you feel today. If you are suddenly dealing with sharp, electric-shock sensations radiating down your legs, that is a different beast entirely. A change in the type of pain is strong evidence that the crash did new damage.

2. The Level of Care

This is often the strongest proof we have. If you hadn’t seen a doctor for your back in two years, and suddenly you are in physical therapy three times a week, that gap speaks volumes. It shows your condition was stable or manageable before the other driver hit you.

3. The Pictures Don’t Lie

Medical imaging is a powerful tool. If we can compare an X-ray or MRI from three years ago to one taken after the crash, we can often see physical changes. A disc that was slightly bulging before might be fully herniated now. Hard evidence like this is difficult for an insurance company to ignore.

The Insurance Company’s Playbook

You need to be ready for the insurance adjuster’s tactics. Their job is to save money, and pre-existing conditions are their favorite way to do it.

When they see “degenerative disc disease” in your file, they will jump on it. They will try to tell you that your current pain is just part of the natural aging process. They will argue that you would have ended up in this amount of pain eventually, whether their client hit you or not.

We use medical experts to explain that, while you may have had a condition, the accident acted like a match thrown on gasoline.

What Drives the Settlement Value?

Putting a dollar figure on these cases isn’t an exact science, but certain factors tend to push the value up or down.

The Treatment Gap

As mentioned earlier, time is your friend. If there is a long period of time prior to the crash where you didn’t need medical treatment for your back, your case is much stronger. It proves the condition was dormant. If you were at the orthopedist the day before the crash, the case becomes harder, though certainly not impossible, to win.

Property Damage

It sounds simple, but the look of the car matters. If your bumper is hanging off and the trunk is crushed, it is easy for a jury to understand how your back got hurt. If there is barely a scratch on the bumper, the insurance company will argue that the impact wasn’t hard enough to aggravate your condition.

Loss of Lifestyle

Money is meant to compensate you for what you lost. If your pre-existing injury didn’t stop you from gardening, hiking, or working, but the accident did, that loss has value. We focus on what you can no longer do.

Don’t Go It Alone

Dealing with a pre-existing condition in an injury claim is like walking a tightrope. One wrong step can give the insurance company the excuse they need to deny your claim.

You don’t have to figure this out by yourself. The driver who hit you broke the safety rules of the road. They are responsible for the harm they caused, whether your back was perfect or not.

Contact Pencheff and Fraley

If you are suffering from back pain after a rear-end collision and are worried about how your medical history fits into the picture, let us help you. At Pencheff and Fraley, we know how to counter the insurance company’s tactics and protect your rights.

We can review your records, talk to the experts, and build a plan that fights for the compensation you actually deserve. Call us today for a consultation. Let’s get to work on your recovery.

Find us at the following locations:

Westerville – 4151 Executive Pkwy, Suite 355, Westerville, OH 43081
Mansfield – 33 S. Lexington-Springmill Rd, Mansfield, OH 44906

Call now for a free consultation on (614) 224-4114.