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This week, the Provincial Government of Alberta will announce that people will no longer be able to sue for personal injuries arising from a car accident. I hate seeing when governments take away the rights of innocent people to best suit their corporate overlords.

This dramatic change to the law means innocent accident victims won’t be able to sue for personal injuries against:

  • Drunk Drivers
  • Distracted Drivers
  • Drugged Up Drivers
  • Incapacitated Drivers
  • Careless Drivers
  • Drivers too high to operate a vehicle
  • Driving driving illegally without a license
  • Grossly negligent drivers
  • Drag Racers
  • Stunt Drivers
  • Criminals who have stolen a car and who operate their vehicle like it’s Grand Theft Auto causing a serious collision and life threatening injuries. See the serious collision which took place on November 18, 2024 at Bathurst and Wilson in North York where a driver on bail operating a stolen vehicle hit a TTC Bus, injuring 9 innocent individuals.
  • Defendants who drive their vehicles so poorly, and so negligently, that they cause death to innocent people who are simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time
  • Anyone else who acts a fool behind then wheel and causes injuries to another innocent person

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Having practiced personal injury law for over 20 years, I can tell you that fraud for personal injury law claims does exist. But, it does not exist to the extent the insurance industry wants you to believe. The numbers for what you and I believe to be fraud are lower because what the insurance industry accounts as fraud is more all encompassing that you would suspect in order to inflate those fraud statistics in order to justify rate hikes. Some classic examples of fraud for personal injury cases include things that would come to mind when you think of personal injury insurance fraud.

Staged Car Accidents

Fake, or staged car accidents, in order to recover money and benefits in personal injury cases are a real thing. But, fraudsters are really playing with fire with these sort of cases. After a car accident happens, people call the police. The police investigate car accidents. And if the police don’t come to the scene of a car accident, then it’s expected that the parties which are involved in the car accident report the collision to the accident self reporting collision centre. It’s not wise for a fraudster to voluntarily call the police after their scheme, but this is exactly what is supposed to happen. The police can sometimes detect the fraud at first site. Insurance companies are also very good at detecting staged car accidents. They have their own investigators to look in to claims which don’t pass the sniff test so to say. This is not to suggest that every car accident gets investigated by an internal fraud team at an insurance company. But, when things don’t line up, the insurers can sense it and will then do what they need to do in order to look in to the suspected fraud.

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So, you’ve been hurt or injured in an accident.

You retain a personal injury lawyer (hopefully Brian Goldfinger or one of our team members at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers).

The case is running smoothly.

How and when will my personal injury case settle?

These are great questions! Let’s start by answering the easier question first.

When will my personal injury case settle?

The straight forward answer is that personal injury cases take time. There is little rhyme or reason as to when a case will settle. We tell all of our clients that the time which a case will settle varies, and is unpredictable. A personal injury lawyer cannot snap his/her fingers and command that a case settle for a certain amount of dollars. That’s just now how personal injury cases work. The only thing we know for sure is that cases take time to settle, so don’t expect anything to happen quickly; although sometimes things do happen quickly! You never know. And that’s the scary thing, but that’s also the exciting thing. You never know when you get a pleasant call from your personal injury lawyer presenting you with an offer. The next thing you know, you’re deep into negotiations and a deal gets done. Case closed.

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If you were to take a poll of children under the age of 13, Halloween would likely rank in the top 2 on the holiday ranking. It’s the Superbowl for the kids! Can you blame them? Getting to dress up in costume while knocking door to door and getting free candy? What could be better?

Many have fond memories of Halloween.

But those memories should not be dampened by shrinkflation of candy or on account of personal injury. The notion of shrinkflation of Halloween candy is a real thing. Those mini candy bars, or bags of chips; cost more money but they are smaller! That’s shrinkflation. Some say that it’s good for the kids given that they will consume less; thinking that they are consuming an entire package of something. But something feels rather devious about cheating kids out of Halloween candy. Perhaps it’s devious because parents are paying more, but getting less in return for their hard earned after tax dollars. In any event, keep an eye of of shrinkflation of Halloween candy and treats this season.

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If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, regardless of whose fault the accident is; you are entitled to claim an income replacement benefit of up to $400/week. That income replacement benefit can be increased to $800/week if you purchase an optional rider on your car insurance policy.

The income replacement benefit was automatic if you were an income earner, and if you met the disability test. This means that you needed to show that you made money (hard to show cash income) and that you were too disabled from returning to work.

You did not have to purchase any additional benefits, or pay extra on your policy to qualify for the income replacement benefit. It was part of the standard automobile policy in Ontario.

Even if you didn’t own a car, or have a driver’s license, you were still entitled to claim the income replacement benefit if you were hurt or injured in a motor vehicle accident. That meant that innocent pedestrians, cyclists, or simply those who didn’t drive had the same access to income replacement benefits as those who did drive.

Things are changing when it comes to the income replacement benefit.

Ontario Regulation 383/24 was announced in the Ontario Gazette on October 11, 2024. Beginning on July 1, 2026, the income replacement benefit will now be optional:

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Chronic Pain is a real thing.

But just because it’s real, doesn’t mean it’s easy to prove in a personal injury case.

In fact, chronic pain cases are probably the most difficult types of injuries which personal injury lawyers have to prove on behalf of their clients.

But, why are chronic pain cases so difficult?

That’s an easy answer once you know how personal injury cases work.

Most people who are unfamiliar with the Courts, and how personal injury cases work would believe that chronic pain cases are easy. It would entail having a Plaintiff take the stand, and s/he can explain the the Judge and Jury that they are in extreme pain and cannot function. Taking things one step further, the Plaintiff would then have the power to take the Judge and Jury home with them, to see how difficult it is for them to manage their daily activities. The Judge and Jury would sleep over, and watch how hard it is for the Plaintiff to fall asleep, get out of bed in the morning, shower, get dressed, brush their teeth, prepare meals, wash the dishes, take out the trash, clean the house etc.

This is not how Courts work. You cannot bring the Judge and Jury home with you to see how hard life has become since the accident.

The Plaintiff gets one shot on the stand. When they take the stand, they have to articulate their pain in such a way to convince a Judge and Jury to accept their story such that they ultimately make a ruling in their favour. If a Plaintiff does not present as credible, reliable or likeable, chances are that the Judge and Jury will not accept their story (even if that story is the truth!). Not only that, if a Plaintiff is not able to properly explain their pain, suffering and the difficulties that they have with their day to day activities (even if this is completely legitimate), a Judge and Jury might still have a hard time finding in their favour. That means that it’s not always about what’s being said, but sometimes it’s also about how it’s being said, and how that message if being received by a Judge and Jury.

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What is the most valuable card in your wallet?

Is it your driver’s license? Probably not as it just allows you to drive, and not everyone owns or has access to car. A driver’s license can’t buy you food either.

Is it your credit card? Your credit card can help you buy food, but there are limits on how much you can buy on it.

How about your debit card? Same answer as above, except you aren’t purchasing on credit. Rather, the card is only as good as your bank balance.

How about your Costco Membership Card? Great card. You’ll have access to a lot of stuff at reasonable prices, but certainly not the most valuable card in your wallet.

The most valuable card for all Canadians is their health card. When a Canadian need to go and see a doctor, they won’t see a bill in return for the doctor’s services. If a Canadian is hurt, or injured, or has some sort of medical emergency and they require surgery accompanied by a lengthy stay in hospital; there won’t be any bill for that stay which they ever see. The cost of those medical services, food etc. is very very expensive. You can argue about the quality of services, or the timeliness of those medical services all you want. The reality is that there are no monetary limits on your OHIP Healthcare card. Once the medical treatment has been done, the patient doesn’t see any bill.

But there is one exception. Can you guess what it is, and how it relates to personal injury law?

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Long Term Disability cases may sound simple and straight forward. But they aren’t.

When claimants think of what a Court can award them in a long term disability lawsuit, their expectations don’t meet the reality of what the law can do.

For example, claimants believe that a Judge can award them any amount for damages under the sun in the event that their long term disability benefits have been wrongly denied, or terminated. Claimants may pick a number out of their head which sounds large and reasonable in their eyes to compensate them for their losses. But this is simply not how long term disability cases; nor is it how Courts quantify losses for long term disability cases.

There is a lot of math which goes behind the loss quantification in long term disability cases. This means that a Judge will not pick a number out of his/her pocket to compensate a Plaintiff. This is different than a car accident case where a Court has to quantify a Plaintiff’s general damages claim (a claim for pain and suffering). In those tort cases, there is often a range of damages which is presented by the Plaintiff personal injury lawyer; along with a range of damages presented by the lawyer for the insurance company defending the claim. You will find that the range of damages presented by the Plaintiff personal injury lawyer will be higher than the range of damages presented by the lawyer for the defendant insurance company. The Judge will then make an assessment of those damages based on the law presented and the facts of the case, and decide on a figure which s/he believes best fits the case they are deciding.

This sort of exercise does not really happen in a long term disability case.

Why is that?

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I’m a Toronto Raptors Fan. I’ve been a fan since day 1. Before the Raptors came to Toronto, I was, and remain, a big fan of the game of basketball.

But, if I’m being honest, ever since the Tampa Tank 2020-21, the Toronto Raptors have been hard to watch.

Their brand of basketball, along with the teams they’ve assembled haven’t been easy on the eyes. Most of the players on their rosters since that time aren’t here anymore. Whether that was by design (trade, lost to free agency), or more so because the players they’ve brought in just aren’t good enough to play in the NBA in a meaningful way. The has been no roster continuity.

The roster turnover from the past 4 years has been huge in a bad way. There have been a lot of players they’ve brought in who simply aren’t in the NBA anymore. That should tell you something about the talent they’ve attracted and invested in. It’s been poor.

Yet, the organization has been charging a premium price to the fan base. When the organization charges a premium price, you would expect have a premium product delivered in return. Unfortunately, this has not been the case in recent years. It’s no coincidence I feel this way. The largest loss measured by point differential in Raptors History took place just last season in a 133-85 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That’s a 48 point margin of defeat.

If you dive deeper into those all time loss stats, 5 of top 11 (45%) of the Raptors worst losses when looking at point differential have come since 2021-2022! This means that since the 2021-2022 season, Raptor fans have seen 45% of the worst games by point differential played in Raptor history! That’s astounding! This is a disproportionately high number of bad games over such a short period of time.

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In the United States, they call them depositions.

In Ontario, they are referred to as Examinations for Discovery, or Discoveries, or Discovery.

Examinations for Discovery take place under oath. That means that the deponent has to swear, or affirm, that they will tell the truth (not lie!).

They are an opportunity for the other side to ask questions about your case. They will ask all sort of questions about you as well. Some questions may be relevant to your case. Other questions may not appear to be relevant, but sometimes are. It’s best to trust you lawyer to determine which questions you ought to answer, and which questions you ought to refuse to answer. In the event that there’s a disagreement about what’s relevant, and what’s not relevant, the lawyers will identify the question as a “refusal“. It then would be up to a Judge to decide whether or not the question needs to be answered, and whether or not the deponent would need to re-attend at discovery based on the answer to the question refused. This is a common occurrence at Examinations for Discovery. Lawyers tend to agree to disagree, and move on in order to complete the Examination for Discovery; and then argue about the refusals later. It makes no sense to spend all day and waste time arguing refusals at the discovery itself when a Judge will ultimately have the final say in terms of whether or not the question needs to be answered and addressed or not.

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