Pre-Existing Slip and Fall Injury

Answer:

If you have a slip and fall claim in Florida and you have a preexisting condition – say you have an arthritic knee – and then you get in this slip and fall accident and hurt that knee worse. While you had some pain in the knee before, you never needed surgery. After this accident, you need a surgery on the knee. The insurance company is going to say, “Well that was a preexisting condition, so we’re not going to pay you for that because it’s something that you would’ve had anyway.” This is a very common argument they make. Insurance companies hire defense doctors all the time, and those doctors will come up with these opinions. Those opinions oftentimes lack foundation because they do not take into account that you were hurt worse.

The law in Florida says if you have a preexisting condition and it’s aggravated because of an accident, then the insurance company is responsible for that aggravation and responsible for that knee surgery if that knee is aggravated. Don’t let it scare you off if you have some preexisting condition. If you’re hurt worse, the law says that you can recover for that.

You need a skilled attorney that’s able to make sure your treating physicians understand that you had this prior condition, that it got worse from the accident. Then the doctors can give appropriate opinions and we can recover appropriately for that aggravation of the preexisting condition. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have a preexisting condition and then you’re injured to where it’s made worse.