“I’ve had a claim before.”

What actually reduces your case

§ 4664(b): where there has been a prior award of permanent disability, that disability is conclusively presumed to still exist.

Note what that requires: a prior award. A prior claim that resolved by Compromise and ReleaseC&R — Compromise and Release A lump sum that closes future medical treatment permanently. without an award of permanent disability is not a prior award — and § 4664(b) gets asserted more often than it applies. Ask to see the prior award.

And § 4663 apportionmentApportionment Dividing permanent disability between industrial and non-industrial causes. It is to disability, not to findings on an image. is to the causation of disability. Be careful with Lindh: under City of Petaluma v. WCABWCAB Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. The court system that decides these cases. 23 district offices statewide. (Lindh) (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 1175, a pre-existing condition that never disabled you can support apportionment — prior disability is no longer a prerequisite. What the defense must still prove is that the condition actually caused part of this disability, on substantial medical evidence.

Under EscobedoEscobedo The en banc decision requiring an apportionment opinion to explain how and why. A percentage without reasoning is not substantial evidence., the opinion must explain how and why. A percentage attached to “prior injury” without reasoning is not substantial evidenceSubstantial evidence The standard a medical opinion must meet to support a finding.. How to attack an apportionment opinion.

What may increase it — SIBTF

The Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund exists for workers who had a pre-existing disability and then suffered an industrial injury that, combined, produces a substantially greater disability.

It is paid by a state fund, not by your employer — which means it is genuinely additional money, and it is chronically under-claimed.

And it changed. SB 171 rewrote SIBTF effective July 2026, retroactively, with a June 1, 2026 grandfather snapshot.

Anything you read about SIBTF that was written before then describes the old rules. What changed and what it means.

A prior disability that qualifies does not have to be industrial. A congenital condition, a prior non-work injury, or a medical condition can be the pre-existing disability.

Which is why honesty at the deposition matters

You will be asked about prior injuries and prior claims under oath. More on testifying.

Answer honestly. A prior injury does not defeat your claim, and it may be worth money. What does destroy a claim is denying something that appears in a medical record somewhere — and it always appears in a medical record somewhere.