A quite nervous caller reached out to me with excruciating back pain that was show to be a herniated disc. It happened from lifting at work. It looks like he’ll need surgery and probably never will return to his previous job. It’s serious stuff.
He was nervous because seven years ago while living in another state he had injured his back in a car accident. He treated for six months and was treatment and symptom free until this happened.
The question he had was does he have to tell the insurance company about his old injury. They called him and asked him if he’d ever been hurt before, but he didn’t answer. He’s very worried that the old injury will kill his case.
Few points:
- We recommend that you never lie. Aside from being the right thing to do, if you get caught it will kill your credibility.
- If you have a pre-existing condition that gets aggravated by a job accident, it’s almost always covered. This is especially true when you have big gaps in treatment.
- It’s not unusual to have this type of situation. If your job causes, aggravates OR accelerates an injury it’s covered under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
- You don’t have to tell the insurance company anything and we highly recommend that you do not give a recorded statement.
- They are going to find out about the previous treatment anyway whether it be from statements you make to your doctor or an insurance search. You have nothing to hide.
Long story short is that he was freaking out about nothing, but for good reason. This is his life and his career is about to end so he’s looking out for himself.
Want to know if you injury should be covered? Just want to ask a question? Call us any time, 312-346-5578. We cover all of Illinois. The call is always free. We can’t promise you’ll like the answer, but we don’t bite and we’ll tell you the truth.
