Are You Eligible For Compensation For Short Term Disability?

Injury Lawyer

Now, personal injury law consists of quite a lot of different accidents which are capable of causing all sorts of different injuries. From sprained body parts to broken bones and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries and even death – the consequences are definitely various. However, particularly interesting topic of discussion is short term disability and the way to handle the overall compensation process in this situation. With this in mind, let’s take a quick look at the specifications and the proper approaches.

The first question that a lot of people ask is what exactly a short term disability is. This is a disability which stems from an injury and there are reasonable chances of recovery in a particularly and previously determined period of time. The term can vary but it’s usually no more than a year or two for the injury to be causing short term disability one. With this in mind, there are different compensatory claims that can be filed in these instances.

Compensation For Medical Expenses

Short term disability claims are always accompanied by claims for medical expenses. This is due to the fact that the amount of money that the victim is likely to spend is considerable. This is strongly dependent on the injury as well as the expected recovery term. However, in order to claim this particular line of expenses, the victim has to provide the insurance company with detailed documentation which includes medical bills, rehabilitation contracts, out-of-pocket expenses and basically all sorts of documents which acclaim the expenses.

Compensation for lost wages

Chances are that you are unlikely to be able to work for some time. This is going to result in loss of wages. What is more, you might not be able to fulfill your working obligations anymore because of your condition and disability. This is also going to subject you to losses. Luckily for you, there is a loss of wages compensation for this particular situation and it could amount up to 80% of the salary that you were getting. However, you have to present the insurance company with prove of active employment for the previous 24 months. It doesn’t have to be with the same employer.

Pain and Suffering

Even though short term disability is scheduled to go away in some time, the pain and suffering might persist afterwards. This is why you can claim damages for pain and suffering as a result of the injury that caused the disability in the first place. Keep in mind that apart from all these you can also claim rehabilitation expenses, expenses made for home helping services and many more of the kind in order to guarantee that you have a proper living environment.

Irrespective of whether you have suffered orthopedic injuries or other severe physical injuries, it is important to seek legal assistance of an experienced lawyer.

 

Negotiating A Reduced Remuneration For Your Lawyer

Injury Lawyer

One of the things that have to be taken into thorough consideration when discussing the fees of an attorney would be the way they are calculated. The field of personal injury law is rather specific and this has to be accounted for. With this being said, the regular attorney practicing in this particular field is going to be working under the so called contingency fee. This means that you, as a client, don’t pay a dime unless the case is settled in a favorable for you manner or is won in court. This means that the lawyer is going to undertake all of the risk which is associated with losing the case in return to an average of between 33% and 40% of the winning compensation. This is regularly pretty favorable for the attorney but there is still room for negotiating, contrary to what you might believe. Let’s see how you may get that chunk reduced.

You’ve done some of the work

The terms under which you can file your claim are rather extensive and with this in mind, it’s quite possible that some significant amount of time might have passed after the accident. During this time you may have gathered all of the necessary documents that are pertaining to a case and present them to the attorney for revision and appraisal. This is going to save him a considerable amount of work and you can use this as grounds for your negotiations.

The event of a settlement

The majority of personal injury cases are settled long before they even reach the courtroom. This is done through out of the court negotiations and a legal settlement which has the same binding and enforceable weight as a verdict. With this in mind, you can agree on a lesser amount of money if a favorable for you settlement has been reached. This is mainly due to the fact that the attorney wouldn’t have to spend more time on the settlement and that the work is also substantially less. However, you will need to ensure that the lawyer is on the same page about these aspects.

Establish limits

This is another technique that you could go for. For instance, you could establish financial boundaries that are going to determine the amount of the lawyer fee. Say, the compensation ranges between $5,000 and $10,000 – the attorney gets 25%. If it’s between $10,000 and $15,000 – he gets 30% and so on and so forth. This is a reasonable negotiating tool as it’s going to be fair for you and for the lawyer as it’s going to provide him with an incentive to pursuit higher compensations and he’s supposedly going to do a better job. As you can see, there are quite a few things that you could do in order to negotiate a reduced fee. It is good that you discuss all aspects of the legal fee before beginning the negotiations with the defendant.

Dealing Systematically With Public Transit Accidents

Injury Lawyer

Public transit in Ontario is fairly well regulated. Buses are regular, roadways are properly maintained and it all seems pretty well developed. However, there comes a time when you might be involved in a public transit accident. The causes are usually different – distracted driving on behalf of the public driver or of a third party, improper road conditions and tons of other potential reasons. There are, however, quite a lot of things that you would have to take into account if you find yourself injured in an accident of the kind. (more…)

How To Reject A Low ball Insurance Offer

Injury Lawyer

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.

More About Injuries Stemming From Vehicular Accidents

Injury Lawyer

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.