"Was your hip already bad before this crash?" That is the adjuster question coming next, and your answer matters because it is how three insurance companies turn one serious Fargo wreck into a cheap blame game. Blunt answer: yes, it can absolutely be worth pursuing if the crash made your condition materially worse, caused new treatment, new limits, or new lost income. North Dakota law does not let them walk away just because you had a pre-existing hip problem. They only owe for the aggravation and added harm, but that can still be real money when a hydroplane crash turns a manageable labral tear or arthritis into surgery, injections, missed work, or permanent restrictions.

Here is why the fight gets ugly.

In a Fargo storm wreck, one carrier may blame the other driver, another may blame road conditions, and your own insurer may try to dump bills onto health insurance or MedPay-type coverage first. If a work vehicle, school van, or commercial truck is involved, add another insurer. On US-85 and other heavy truck corridors, this happens all the time after wet-road pileups and debris crashes.

North Dakota uses modified comparative fault. Under N.D.C.C. § 32-03.2-02, your damages can be reduced by your share of fault, and you can be barred if your fault is as great as the fault of the parties you are claiming against. That is why evidence matters fast: crash report, photos of standing water or debris, black-box data, witness names, and medical records showing the jump from "bad hip" to "much worse hip."

Also, insurers fight over reimbursement. If Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, Medicare, or another payer covered treatment, they may assert a subrogation or reimbursement claim from any settlement.

North Dakota's general deadline to sue for injury is usually 6 years, but waiting is how evidence disappears and insurers coordinate their story before you do.