What Happens After You Make A Personal Injury Claim?

The filing of a personal injury claim does not always lead to initiation of a lawsuit. Sometimes the defendant’s insurance company responds to the claim by offering a personal injury settlement. At that point, the claimant is expected to respond to that proposed settlement.

Factors to consider, when determining how to respond:

Medical expenses: The cost of transportation to a hospital or clinic; the charges made by the physical therapist; the amount charged by the hospital; the payment to the treating physician; the money spent on medication or medical equipment; and the cost of future medical care.

Lost wages: That should include both the wages lost by the injured victim while recovering from the injury and the cost of lost earning opportunities, which arose due to the existence of a handicap or disfigurement. A Personal Injury Lawyer in Brantford can get an economic expert to calculate the value of those lost earning opportunities.

Level of pain and suffering endured by victim: In Canada, victims must deal with the fact that there is a cap on the size of the amount of money awarded for pain and suffering. That award cannot be larger than $366,000.

What victims in Canada must show in order to receive an award for pain and suffering?

The victim must proceed through life while dealing with one of 3 problems. The first of those would be a disfigurement. That could be the result of an amputation. It could also be scars. A victim’s scars might cover large portions of the victim’s body, as would be the case if someone had been burned during an accident.

The second possible problem would be an undesirable change, one that would alter the victim’s life in an undesirable fashion. That change could be something like the introduction of an implantable device. Someone that had suffered a traumatic brain injury might need to get a device known as a ventricular shunt. The patient with such a device must limit the extent to which the head gets lowered, as it does when someone dives into the water.

The third possible problem would be the development of some type of psychological challenge. Such a challenge would develop over time. It could be a relatively common problem such as depression or a more serious psychological condition, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Obviously, a victim might be forced to deal with more than one of the 3 general types of problems. For instance, someone that must go through life with scars on his or her face might suffer from the stigma imposed by society. In that case, the stigmatized adult might become exceedingly depressed. The resulting depression would definitely add to the total amount of the victim’s suffering.