In some cases, you cannot get workers’ comp benefits if you were already injured. For example, say that you recently moved to take a new job, so you spent the weekend unloading a moving truck. In doing so, you seriously injured your back. You likely cannot seek workers’ comp benefits, even if you are unable to return to your job, because you were not performing the duties of that job when you got injured. It was on your personal time.
However, some people assume that this means a pre-existing injury always disqualifies them from workers’ comp benefits. In reality, you may still be able to seek benefits if you have aggravated a pre-existing injury, making it substantially worse. In this sense, your job contributed to your condition and so you may still be able to get benefits to cover medical bills or lost wages.
How could this happen?
For instance, imagine that you have had a mild back injury for months. Usually, it just feels a bit stiff in the morning, so you have to do stretches and other exercises to help strengthen your core.
While you are at work, your boss gives you a job lifting heavy materials and carrying them to another location. In the process of doing this, you aggravate the back injury. It gets so bad that you can barely stand, let alone walk on your own.
In a situation like this, performing those duties at your job clearly made the situation much worse. The injury now impacts your life in a far different way than it did before, so you may still be able to seek workers’ comp benefits. Just be sure you know exactly what legal steps to take and how to document the injury.