What Is The “Duty To Mitigate Damages” In A Personal Injury Case?

There are many aspects to a personal injury case. If you are filing a personal injury claim against an insurance company, you will need to have substantial evidence to back up your claim. If you are injured in an accident involving negligence, many times, the case can be obvious and simple. For example, the driver of the other vehicle ran a stop light, which caused your car accident. If you were to file a claim on this accident, the owner of the vehicle could clearly turn things around and say that you did not maintain control of your vehicle and when he lost control of his, you hit him. This is often referred to as “duty to mitigate”.

Another example would be that the store owner had just finished mopping up a spill near the coolers when a customer walked in. He did not put up caution signs and you slipped and fell on the wet floor. The store owner didn’t mean to cause you to fall but not putting the sign out there stating to be careful made it his fault in the end.

“Reasonable Steps” to Mitigate Damages

When you have any type of personal injury case, the person who received the injury must take the appropriate steps to mitigate his or her damages which can include loss of income, medical bills, and other debt brought on by the accident and/or the injuries.

Appropriate steps mean that a person in a reasonable situation would file a claim and take the person responsible for the accident to court to obtain compensation.

There are limitations that must be handled responsibly. For example, if you are on the job and you hurt your knee, you are not required to seek out the most expensive orthopedist to work on it. However, you would be entitled to a professional board-certified orthopedist who can help you heal your knee.

Mitigation of Medical Damages

It’s important that you seek out medical treatment immediately after receiving your injury. Delaying contacting a medical professional could ruin your chances of obtaining compensation for your injury. The defendant could claim that the delay in seeking medical treatment worsened the injury and therefore, they would not be liable for the entire amount that you are requesting.

Your Injury Lawyer in Hamilton knows that you have the responsibility of seeking medical treatment in a timely manner. You cannot refuse reasonable medical treatment or ignore the advice given to you by the medical providers. This includes any tests, follow up care instructions, as well as future appointments.

When you follow the instructions and stay under the direct order of a medical professional, attend all appointments as instructed, follow orders given to you from the medical professional while at home, then the defendant cannot site you for not being compliant throughout your process of healing.