No. In Minnesota, an insurer does not get off the hook just because you had a prior neck problem. If the crash aggravated, accelerated, or lit up a pre-existing condition, you can still recover for the harm caused by the wreck.

Minnesota follows the eggshell plaintiff rule. That means the at-fault driver takes you as you were, not as a perfectly healthy person. If your cervical spine was already vulnerable and the crash made it worse, the legal issue is usually how much worse, not whether the old MRI exists.

What the insurer will often do is point to degenerative findings like disc bulges, arthritis, stenosis, or prior treatment and argue your symptoms were already there. Old imaging alone does not prove that. Many people have abnormal MRIs before a crash and no major pain or limitations. The key evidence is usually the change after the collision:

• new or sharply worse symptoms
• new treatment, work restrictions, or injections
• a doctor tying the crash to an aggravation of the prior condition
• records showing the condition was stable before the wreck

Minnesota's no-fault system also matters. Your own PIP/no-fault coverage generally pays medical bills and wage loss first, even if you had a prior condition. To bring a claim against the other driver for pain and suffering, you usually must meet a Minnesota tort threshold, such as more than $4,000 in medical expenses or a permanent injury, permanent disfigurement, or 60 days of disability.

If the insurer says "it was all pre-existing," they still have to deal with the fact that Minnesota law allows recovery for the aggravation itself. They do not only look at the old MRI; they look at what changed after the crash.