In some cases, yes. In an effort to minimize the value of your claim, ICBC may review your medical records for the last 5-10 or more years, looking for pre-existing health issues to blame accident-related problems on. Disabilities clearly caused by your accident may be blamed on medical conditions you haven’t been bothered by for years, earlier traumas, or pre-existing mental health issues. Many ICBC medical advisors rarely find anything wrong with a claimant that they can’t blame on a pre-existing medical or psychological condition.

Unless you fully disclose all pre-existing health conditions to your adjuster, the ICBC lawyer (if any) and all health-care professionals who examine you, ICBC may take the position that you’ve deliberately tried to hide these things – therefore, you may be lying about other things as well. This could place your insurance claim at risk.

A pre-existing health condition may explain why you were injured in an accident where an average person wouldn’t have been. Your pre-existing condition may have made you more susceptible to the injuries you’ve had. When a pre-existing health condition is aggravated by an accident, you’re entitled to damages from the at-fault driver.

Your accident doesn’t have to be the sole cause of a health problem as long as it contributed to it. While ICBC can’t deny you compensation because of a previous health condition, if the condition would have worsened anyway, even without the accident, your award will be reduced accordingly.

The thin skull rule in personal injury law holds a person responsible for the injuries he’s caused, even when these are unexpectedly severe due to a pre-existing condition. An at-fault driver has to accept you the way you are. It’s irrelevant how your accident would have affected someone else.

The crumbling skull rule recognizes that a pre-existing condition is an inherent part of a person. While you’re entitled to be compensated for the harm that was done to you, the at-fault driver isn’t responsible for making you better than you were, nor does he have to compensate you for your condition worsening if this would have happened anyway. If there’s a measurable risk that a pre-existing condition would have worsened even without the accident, the court will take this into account by reducing your overall award.

If you had on-going health issues at the time of your accident, and some of your current problems might stem from this - or you have a progressively debilitating health condition - you can expect your award or settlement to reflect this. A good lawyer can help minimize how much your award is reduced by finding respected medical experts to support your claim.

An auto accident can aggravate pre-existing psychological problems and awaken memories of earlier traumas. You may be more prone to developing an accident-related psychological condition because you’ve had psychological problems in the past. You’ll need to make it clear to your treating therapist - and to any mental health professional who assesses you - how your accident has affected your earlier issues.