Category: Car Accidents

Being involved in an accident, regardless of its kind, is particularly devastating. This is especially true if you were involved in a vehicular accident of certain kind. However, even though you are very much likely to be particularly bothered with having to deal with all the pain and suffering, there are a few more things that you would have to take into account if you want to receive the necessary and alleged compensation that you are thoroughly entitled to after the accident. Even though it might be unpleasant, let’s take a quick look.

Seek appropriate medical attention

This is likely to have been the first thing you did after you were involved in an accident resulting in serious injuries. With this in mind, it’s important to make sure that you seek competent medical services in order to properly handle your pain and relieve you from your symptoms. However, this is related to a lot of expenses.

This is why you need to make sure that you keep a proper record of everything that’s being done to you and every single expense that’s being made. You need to have this organized carefully and thoroughly in order to use it later on when you file your claim later on.

Claiming damages

Your medical records and diagnostic reports are one of the key elements when filing for a compensatory claim after the accident. Based on the reported injuries and trauma sustained, the claim amount shall be fixed.

There are two types of expenses that you are capable of claiming after being involved in a personal injury case and these are expenses for the actual damages and those for pain and suffering. For the sake of this particular piece, we are going to be taking a look at expenses for damages. These are the so called pecuniary damages and they include everything that’s visually represented. These do not include emotional traumas and pain, but only the expenses which were made to get you recovered from actual traumas and physical wounds.

So, for instance, if you have broken your leg as a result of a car accident and you’ve sought immediate medical attention – they would have treated the injury in a certain way. This is going to cost you a certain amount of money determined by the healthcare provider. This amount is fully repairable as per the legislation. However, in order to get it recovered, you will need to make sure that you provide the court or the insurance company with the necessary documents. These are kept in your medical record.

This is the main reason for which keeping a properly organized medical record is of absolute essence. You need to make sure that everything is handled perfectly and as per the highest standards – something, which is going to ensure that you are going to get the necessary compensation. With this in mind, you need to make sure that the records are properly kept and organized.

There are quite a few things that you might want to take into account when it comes to filing a claim for compensating injuries stemming from a car accident. Right off the bat, you need to be well aware of the fact that there are two different types of damages that you can claim. The first ones are known as economic or “special” damages while the second type is known as non-economic or “general” ones. There is a characteristic differentiations between both which needs to be drawn concisely in order for you to understand the critical different.

Economic damages are those which stem from medical bills, the resources you’ve spent to repair your vehicle and the lost income from not going to work, for instance. What’s characteristic and determining for all of them is that they can be proven with a piece of paper – a document, a contract, receipt, bill or whatnot.

Non-economic damages are, however, a bit more specific. They are rather hard for evaluation. They are the damages which stem from emotional conditions of distress, pain, suffering and others alike. As per the current legislation of Canada and the province of Ontario, every court has the jurisdiction to assess non-economic injuries on its own for every separate case. This is a fair solution as each case differs in injury and liabilities.

How much money can you clam for pain and suffering?

This is not an easy question to answer. In fact, pain and suffering in a car accident case is going to be evaluated by taking into account quite a few different factors. Some of them include but are not limited to:

·         The gravity of the injuries

·         The typically associated amount of discomfort and pain which is associated with these injuries

·         How are they impacting the quality of your life, your job and other activities

·         The nature of the treatment which is necessary for taking care of these injuries

·         The estimated time for recovery

·         The necessity to take powerful pain medication and the necessity of further rehabilitation or consecutive treatment

As you can see, there are quite a lot of things that you’d have to take into account when assessing your pain and suffering. For instance, a person with a broken leg who’s likely to recover in a month and to get back to his normal life right afterwards isn’t going to get the same amount of money as another person who has broken his leg but he needs it for his work, income and others of the kind – a football player, for instance. The pain and suffering and the non-economic damages in the second case are going to be higher in comparison. Additionally, in many cases, the leg has to be amputated or is in a condition that has led to permanent disability which naturally calls for higher payout.

Contacting your own insurance company right after you’ve been involved in a car accident is particularly important. However, you should understand that under your own insurance policy, the insurance company is entitled to quite a few rights. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at each and every one of the most common authorizations that you’ve agreed to when signing your insurance policy.

Access to Your Work and Medical Records

All of the insurance policies provide the company with the right to take a look and further examine your work and medical records. This is why you will most likely receive a form which is called Authorization for Release of Records or something of the kind. You need to sign it in case you want the insurance company to actually process your claim.

The Right of Cooperation

The insurance company is entitled to seek your cooperation. This includes questioning and other related activities which are going to help the company reveal the whole situation, examine it and assess it so that they could properly process your claim. Let your lawyer handle these aspects as they understand how to work with the insurance company’s representatives and adjuster.

Right of Subrogation

This is particularly important. This is the right of your own insurance company which gives her the possibility of seeking reparation of the compensation it has paid out to you from the one who is actually responsible for the accident. For instance, if you’ve been involved in an accident and it was the other driver’s fault, your insurance company is going to pay you the money to repair your car and then seek it from the other side. In the majority of cases it would have to go up against the other driver’s own insurance company – it’s as simple as that.

Inspection Of Vehicle

When you’ve been involved in a car accident and you want to get the damages on your vehicle repaired, the insurance company is going to have to check out the damages on its own. It is then going to cross-check the cost of the damages and assigns the reimbursable value according to their own politics. This is particularly important. Though they will give a lower amount than what is deserved, having a good injury lawyer in your corner can help you get maximum benefits.

However, there are things that you need to be aware of. It is essential to keep in mind that it is in the insurance company’s best interest to give you the smallest amount of money – that’s how they increase their own revenues and that’s how they stay in business. With this in mind, you want to make sure that you are present when they are inspecting your vehicle so that you see that they describe every single crack, dent and damage to your vehicle as it is. This is important if you want to get fully compensated.

If you’ve been involved in a car accident or any other sort of incident which requires you to file a claim for monetary compensation, it’s in your best interest to avoid going to court. Not only is it risky, it’s going to take tremendous amount of time as the courts of Ontario are overly preferable. However, chances are that this process is going to go back and forth and you have to be well aware of quite a few things. It’s always advisable to hire a professional personal injury lawyer with actual experience in the matter but if you’ve decided to handle the matter yourself, below you will find a few helpful tips.

The first thing that you need to know is that the adjuster is going to make you a few offers throughout the entire procedure, unless you accept his first one, which you absolutely should not. When you send out your letter of demand and specify the amount that you want to recover, the first offer of the adjuster is going to be tremendously lower than that, you can count on it. This is the lowball offer.

Now, you shouldn’t storm out and you should take things slowly. It is best to keep your claim moving by letting him know that this is an offer which is unacceptable. It has nothing to do with the actual damages that are subjected to getting the legal compensation. Do not engage in any verbal confrontation because this will not yield any kind of results. It is best to let your lawyer handle the communication.

However,the lowball offer is likely to contain the adjuster’s authority. This is the hypothetical amount of money that he’s willing to provide you. He’s going to make some sort of a statement that he’s not authorized to go higher than a specified amount of money. He is. You should know that. There is no such thing and you should keep this in mind. The only restriction that could be imposed can derive from regulatory provisions and not from the insurance company itself.

With this in mind, you should respond in kind. Let him know, subtly, that you are not accepting this offer because the damages that you have endured and that you are entitled to recover exceed the amount. Subtly indicate that you don’t want to go to trial but you will if you have to. It is better if your personal injury lawyer handles the communication with the insurance company representatives. That will help you get the most within the limited time.

Now, there is something that should be considered here. Oftentimes people spend their savings on recoveries and they are left with no money to cover unexpected expenses as a result. If that’s the case, the decision whether or not to take a lower offer in order to spare time and handle expenses is entirely up to you.

Now, as unfortunate as it may sound, car accidents are the most common type of accidents in the province of Ontario. For that matter, they are the most common type of accidents in the entire world. Of course, the reason for this is because there are just way too many cars on the streets and when you weigh in factors like bad driving conditions, distracted driving and many of the kind, you’ve got the answer. However, car accidents lead to different injuries. With this in mind, we are going to take a look at the most relevant to personal injury law.

Orthopedic injuries

Of course, this is the most common type of injury out there and it’s the most overly reported. An orthopedic injury is constituted as a broken bone, dislocated joint, shredded tendon and others of the kind. They are particularly damaging and involve quite a lot of pain. The good thing about them, relatively good, of course, is that they are visible for the most part and can be claimed easier. This facilitates the overall process of filing a claim.

Brain Injuries And Spinal Cord Damage

Now, spinal cord damage is particularly dangerous even though a lot of people tend to disregard the most common cause of it – whiplash cases. These are instances in which your vehicle is hit from behind by another car and as a result your head goes forth and back real quick due to the safety seat belt. This is capable of causing a lot of neck pain down the line which is particularly uncomfortable.

Emotional Damages

Even though they are not actual damages in the conventional sense of the word, they are a huge part of personal injury law. They are referred to as pain and suffering and involve tremendous emotional turmoil as a result of the accident. Of course, pain can also be objectified. This is the feeling that you get from a severe injury. Some of the symptoms might not be visible immediately but as the Statue of Limitation gives leeway, it is important to get the evaluation done.

In any case, there are quite a lot of things that have to be properly taken into account when it comes to car accidents. They are truly the most overly common cause for personal injury claims. However, you also need to consider that a lot of the accidents wouldn’t really lead to any damages at all. Common urban car collisions are usually associated with damage on the vehicle and nothing else. This is why they are going to be a matter of simple insurance. Actually, there is nothing simple about it. The truth is that regardless of whether you’ve been in an urban or out of town car crash, the best thing you can do is contact a lawyer and have him handle the work.