Back Pain That Starts the Day After a Minor Crash

Attorney Answer

Pain that shows up the next day is ordinary in soft-tissue injuries and does not disqualify a claim. Two things will decide this instead: who was at fault for the collision, and how quickly your back complaint got into a medical record. You already have the second one started, which matters more than you might think.

The responsibility rule is Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a): everyone is responsible for an injury occasioned to another by their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property or person, except so far as the injured person has by their own want of ordinary care brought the injury upon themselves. So the first question is what the other driver did wrong, and that is a question about the collision, not about your symptoms.

That last clause is where the other insurer will work, particularly on a low-damage crash. It does not end a claim here. California applies pure comparative fault: a claimant's recovery is reduced only to the extent their own lack of reasonable care contributed to the injury, as the Supreme Court reaffirmed in Daly v. General Motors Corp., 20 Cal. 3d 725 (1978). Reduced in proportion, not eliminated.

On what a lumbar sprain is worth, there is no minimum severity in California law. Cal. Civ. Code § 3333 measures damages as the amount that will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused, whether or not it could have been anticipated — the visits, the imaging, physical therapy, medication, work you missed and the things you could not do while it healed.

Expect the causation argument, because on minor-damage collisions it is the standard one: little damage to the car, therefore little injury to the person, therefore something else caused the back pain. The record you started the next day is the answer to it, and it gets stronger with consistent follow-up and weaker with a gap.

Two claim-handling rules are worth knowing while you deal with an adjuster. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.5(b), a licensee that receives a communication from a claimant which reasonably suggests a response is expected must respond within fifteen calendar days. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.7(b), an insurer must accept or deny a claim, in whole or in part, within forty calendar days of receiving proof of claim. Slow handling is not something you simply have to absorb.

What you can do

1. Get and keep the x-ray report and the visit note, and check that the note records the accident as the reason for the visit.

2. Follow the treatment plan you were given, and go back if it is not helping rather than stopping.

3. Report the collision to your own insurer if you have not already, whoever was at fault.

4. Photograph both vehicles and the scene if you have not, and get the report number if police responded.

5. Keep your bills and a note of the days you missed work or could not do normal activities.

6. Ask a local attorney before giving the other driver's insurer a recorded statement or signing a broad medical authorization.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 gives two years for an action for injury to an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another, while a claim for damage to the vehicle runs three years under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1) — two halves of one crash, two different dates. If any government vehicle or roadway is involved, Cal. Gov't Code § 911.2(a)'s six-month presentation deadline can apply instead. Which governs depends on facts this page does not have, so have a local attorney confirm your dates early.