I caused a fender-bender but the other driver has pre-existing injuries — how scared should I really be?

Not legal advice, but I can offer some framing. Excess verdicts — where a judgment actually exceeds policy limits and goes after personal assets — are real but genuinely rare in minor-impact cases. The bigger risk is usually if your insurer mishandles the claim (like refusing a reasonable settlement offer within limits), which can create something called bad faith exposure. That's actually more of a concern for you than the plaintiff's lawyer going straight for your assets. Talk to a personal attorney — not just relying on your insurer's rep — so someone is actually watching out for YOUR interests.

The thing people don't realize is that your insurance company's loyalty is to their bottom line, not yours. If they lowball a settlement offer and the plaintiff rejects it, and then a jury comes back with something bigger than your limits... that gap can sometimes land on you. I'd seriously get your own attorney to monitor the file. Most do a free consult and it's worth every minute.

I was the at-fault driver in a somewhat similar situation a few years back — hit someone who already had a shoulder thing going on. My insurer handled it and it settled within my policy. I was terrified the whole time but looking back I think I wasted a lot of energy on worst-case scenarios that never materialized. Not saying yours won't be complicated, but the nightmare outcome isn't the default outcome.

One thing worth knowing: most plaintiff's attorneys work on contingency and they're not going to invest years of litigation chasing personal assets when there's a solid policy limit sitting there waiting to be settled. It's just not efficient for them. Now, if your limits were, like, state minimum, that math changes. But 'well above average' coverage on a low-speed incident? That's usually an attractive settlement target that closes without going to trial.

From a medical standpoint, 'aggravation of pre-existing condition' can be genuine — someone with a compromised spine really can have a setback from even a minor jolt. But it can also be very hard to prove causation, especially with good documentation showing the condition predated your accident. Her treatment records will matter a lot. I'd make sure your insurer is actually requesting and reviewing all of that history.

Here's the blunt version: get a personal attorney to advise you independently, don't make any statements to anyone about the accident beyond what you've already given your insurer, and stop googling horror stories at 2am. The odds are strongly in your favor that this resolves within your coverage. But 'strongly in your favor' isn't guaranteed, so protect yourself by having your own counsel watching the process.

The anxiety you're feeling is so understandable — this kind of uncertainty is genuinely awful. But you reported it right away, you're being responsible about it, and that matters. Take it one step at a time and don't let the worst-case internet rabbit holes eat you alive.