Most Popular Personal Injury Claims In Ontario

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There are quite a lot of different claims that could be filed within the area of personal injury law. The truth is that the Court of Ontario has definitely seen them all. From wrongful death cases to comic dog bite injuries and slip and falls, there is no shortage of interesting cases. With this in mind, we’ve taken the liberty to present you with the most commonly filed claims over the territory of Ontario.

Car accident benefit claims

The all time favorite. This is the claim that’s been filed more than any other claim in Ontario combined. In fact, if you get the number of other claims in the history of the Court of Ontario and you multiply that number by 10, you’d still not reach the amount of car accident benefit claims that have been filed.

This is quite logical. Car accidents are pretty regular and they usually leave to some sort of injuries. Regardless of how mild they might be, they are subjected to compensation and the “No Fault” rule under the Rules of Fault Determination set forth in the Insurance Act of 1990 has made it particularly easy for victims to seek compensation in situations of the kind.

Slip and fall accidents

This is another claim which is very popular in Ontario. The state is characterized with the harsh and long winters during which walking conditions get terrible, to say the least. Regardless of the efforts which the municipalities make to keep the walkways clean, it’s simply impossible during freezing temperatures and heavy snow falls. That’s when these accidents tend to occur.

Regardless of how harmless they may sound, slip and falls are known to cause some particularly serious injuries. They shouldn’t be underestimated one bit because traumatic brain injuries as well as spinal cord ones are definitely possible.

Dog bites

Dog bites are not particularly popular but they deserve a worthy mention. It’s worth noting that the Dog Owner’s Liability Act which is a legal provision set forth back in 1990 has never been changed or amended since. This means that the legislative authorities have managed to properly foresee the future development of social relations and to regulate them brilliantly. With this in mind, dog bite claims are not hard to push through a case provided there is sufficient evidence. You will need a lawyer to put forth your claim that adheres to the specific requisites of the court. This will reduce the chances that it is denied.

As you can see, these are just some of the claims which are popular. We also have motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death and product liability claims – all of which are rather common. However, each claim has its own specifications and it’s important that it’s regarded individually. The presence of a personal injury lawyer in all cases is practically mandatory if you wish to ensure success. However, it is important that the lawyer you intend hiring has had considerable success in similar cases.

How Long Does It Take To Get a Verdict in A Personal Injury Claim?

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If you got injured in a car accident or got injured due to the negligence of another individual, you have the right to be compensated. However, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. There is tons of paperwork, legal procedures and all of that requires the assistance or guidance from an experienced lawyer.

This is likely to be the most common question when it comes to a personal injury case and this is quite understandable. Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of things that need to be considered when it comes to pushing a case of this type forward through the different authorities. The truth is that if you don’t manage to settle you claim with the insurer, you are likely to be in line for quite some time before getting to a verdict, let alone getting any kind of compensation at all. The reasons for this are different and versatile.

The first thing that needs to be said is that the court capacity of Ontario is just not enough. This goes for absolutely everything – there is not enough court space, clerks, judges and basically everything that’s needed to process your claim in a proper and timely manner. The truth is that you are likely to get a hearing set for a couple of years after you have filed your motion. That’s right, filing a claim today is going to get you heard in about two years – that’s how fast the legal system works.

There are, of course, some strictly subjective reasons for which you might experience delays. Unhealed injuries can’t be properly quantified because it’s impossible to determine the amount of expenses they are going to require. With this in mind, you might want to consider this particular fact prior to going south on why does it take so long to receive compensation because it’s not always a matter of procedures.

Furthermore, you would also need to consider that it’s in the best interest of the insurer to spread your claim and delay it in time for as long as it’s humanly possible. It’s absolutely nothing personal and you should keep this in mind. Insurance companies are about one thing – making money. That’s why they are in business for and that’s what they care the most. IF your insurer paid all of his claims he would have run out of business long time ago. The more they manage to reduce your claim or to delay it in time, the more money they are going to make and the larger profits they’d be capable of reporting to their shareholders. This is their intention and that’s what they are good at. They are going to use every trick in the book to delay the case and there’s nothing you can do about it but to fight it.

If you put your trust within the right personal injury lawyer, he might be able to get your case settled long before the time you’d have to wait for a verdict.

Debates On Deductible In Car Accident Claims

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There have been some recent changes to the regulations which govern the claiming of car accident benefits. Once again, the government of Canada alongside the province of Ontario has decided that it’s reasonable to increase the amount of the deductible in car accident compensations. Let’s dig a bit deeper into this.

It goes without saying that legislation in Canada, regardless of the municipality, has its own debatable regulations. Well, it’s safe to say that the deductible clause is one rather questionable provision, to say the very least. Even though the opinion of a lawyer in the matter might be a bit subjective because it affects directly the amount of money that he’s going to get out of his contingency fee, it’s worth taking into consideration out of strict professional point of view.

With this in mind, there is a growing discussion amongst many practicing lawyers in Ontario that the deductible provision is particularly unfair and fails to deliver the justice that the law is supposed to. This particular provision stipulates that the at-fault party is entitled to a deduction that can go to as much as $30,000 in car accident cases. So, let’s say you’ve been involved in an accident of the kind and you claim $60,000 worth of compensation. You get the verdict in your favor and you get the compensation that you filed for. Right there, on the spot, you are going to receive $30,000 less because of this provision. And why is that? Well, that is because it’s considered justified and protective of the opposing party.

So, let’s sum up – you get to incur the damages, you get to pay your medical and rehab bills and legal fees and you get to receive $30,000 less than what you are actually entitled to. While there might be merit behind this clause, it’s particularly challenging to dig it out.

The deductible shows that there isn’t enough trust behind the verdict. The verdict is the court act which regulates particular social relation. This is the essence of the law itself. If there is a post imposed clause which alters the verdict itself, this puts the entire nature of the law in question. The same is the case with the deductible. The fact that such clauses exist, it means that the legislative arm is putting in question the ability of the court to properly assess the claim and that it might issue an excessive verdict.

In any case, this particular clause has given birth to fierce debates. However, it seems that the legislative responsibility doesn’t give it many credits because just recently, this deductible was once again increased, contrary to what a lot of people may have expected. If you have a claim to file which might get into complexities due to the recent changes, it is best to connect with an injury lawyer who is conversant with these legal requirements.

Guide on Complications Arising From Multiple Vehicle Collisions

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Personal injury law is complicated as it is. Multiple car crashes, however, pose a whole new page of complications that are sometimes nearly impossible to deal with. Multiple claims, multiple claimants, tons of rights to be considered and numerous insurance policies – all of these have to be taken into thorough consideration while settling a versatile dispute of the kind. If you or a loved one is injured in a similar accident, it is essential that you go ahead and find a lawyer to ensure that you get maximum compensation for the damages.

One of the things that might pose a lot of difficulty is the fact that everyone is going to be running away from responsibility. Fault determination rules are going to be setting forth the insurance companies that are going to have to repay other drivers and they are all going to try to limit their financial exposure to the fullest. With this in mind, blames are going to be shifted. That is why personal injury lawyers step in apart from other law enforcement agencies.

The recreation of the accident and the proper determination of what actually happened could be incredibly challenging. When multiple vehicles are involved in one big car crash there are a lot of factors to be considered. Who was tailgating? Who was talking on the phone? Were the road conditions proper? The answers to these questions are going to have deciding roles when it comes to the outcome of the entire event and they might be impossible to get. In any case, it’s incredibly hard to determine particular faulty parties in situations of the kind, simply because the majority of the drivers are going to instantly argue about their involvement and the extent of their responsibility. It’s not easy to determine whether or not someone is actually telling the truth in a case involving 40 other drivers who are all claiming the same thing – that they didn’t have any responsibility for the cause of the accident.

The truth is that the majority of multiple-crash cases are almost always going to conclude with out of court settlements as this is the easiest and the quickest way for people to get what they are in for. Of course, there are going to be people who are actually at fault and they know that they are in strong position as proving and determining fault is incredibly expensive in situations of the kind. That’s why they are likely to be inclined to pushing the case towards a civil lawsuit in order to get the liability lifted.

In any case, there are tons of factors to be properly weighed in and the proper conduct of the matters is going to have a detrimental impact on the outcome of the event. Liability stemming from a car crash involving tens of vehicles is going to be incredibly hard to come forward to and that’s why these cases are always overly complicated.

Will Highway Traffic Act Reduce Motor Vehicle Accidents?

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When it comes to personal injury law, it’s worth noting that the majority of the cases are going to come resulting from a motor vehicle accident. However, putting aside car accidents, motor bicycle accidents are certainly the next most common and dangerous type. The main reason for this is because they are going to leave the cyclist exposed as the only thing that’s going to provide some sort of protection is the specific gear that they have to wear. However, this is far from being enough and the results are often terrible. A wide range of the severe motor cycle accidents are going to result in death while even more are going to result in terrible mutilations, broken bonds, ripped tendons and other incredibly severe orthopedic injuries.

This is why they deserve a special place in the legislation of Ontario and that’s thoroughly taken into account by the enactment of the Highway Traffic Act. This piece of legislation sets forth the incredibly strict driving regulations that have to be considered every time you sit behind the wheel or you start operating a motor cycle.

Insurance Act of Ontario

However, the truth is that the majority of cases are going to be subjected to insurance claims as they are not going to get through the court room. This is mainly due to the fact that the Insurance Act of Ontario is pretty comprehensive and it has substantial amount of regulations which are going to be incredibly beneficial if you find yourself involved in a situation of the kind. For instance, the aforementioned piece of legislation sets forth the so called Rules of Fault Determination which have on particular rule that’s commonly referred to as “no fault” rule. This means that you would be compensated for your damages, regardless of the whether or not you are found at fault. The only significant influence that this is going to have is going to be in relation with your insurance policy. If you are found at fault you would have to pay higher amounts of monthly premiums as your risk factor is going to increase as a result of the accident.

Hire a personal injury lawyer

However, the truth is that the investigation is going to be carried out by the insurance company and you have to be incredibly vigilant in order to ensure that everything is kept in check. This is going to have a significant impact on the outcome as some insurance companies might prefer to skew the actual circumstances in their favor in order to ensure a more profitable outcome. This is why it might be a good idea to rely on the help of a professional attorney to navigate this particular process on your behalf and ensure a hassle-free situation. With plenty of trusted and experienced legal firms in Toronto, it will not be difficult to find a lawyer willing to represent your rights.