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The idea behind Critical Illness Insurance sounds great.

If you suffer from a particular critical illness, then the insurance company will pay you a lump sum.

What sort of critical illnesses are covered are defined by the policy.

It all sounds great, and sounds like a very lucrative proposition. For many, this sort of insurance bets AGAINST your very own health. People think that if they sustain a heart attack, then they’ll be entitled to a lump sum under the policy. So, eating that hamburger and skipping that workout might actually pay out in the long term if your critical illness policy works the way you think it works.

Unfortunately, many of these policies don’t work they way that you think they work, or the way that the broker who sold you the policy explained it to you.
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Yesterday, there was a fatal crash on Highway 401 just outside of Whitby. The accident involved 4 vehicles (a Toyota Corolla, a transport truck, a tour bus, and a Pontiac motor vehicle).

The transport truck hit the Corolla at around 10:30AM, so visibility was likely not an issue around that time of day. Police are still uncertain about how the accident happened, but they suspect that the transport truck rear ended the Corolla.

There were 3 passengers in the Corolla. The driver (47 years old) and front seat passenger (29 years old) was taken by ambulance to the hospital with very serious injuries. The third passenger was seated in the back seat. He passed away at the accident scene. At law, this is what we call a fatality claim. Those claims, contrary to popular belief, do not attract as big as settlement as you would think. The pain and suffering for such claims is limited from the time of the accident, to the time of the death. If the death is instantaneous, the damages for pain and suffering will not be significant.

Where the damages can get significant are where there are Family Law Act Claims, along with claims for loss of income to the family.
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You know what’s fun?

Posting status updates on Facebook.

Posting pictures on Instagram.

Posting videos on Vine.

Posting your day to day thoughts on Twitter.

Posting your new job on LinkedIn.

Social media is FUN.

But just because something is fun or popular, doesn’t mean that it’s right for you, particularly when you’re in the middle of a litigation battle against a large, deep pocketed insurance company.

The purpose of this Toronto Injury Blog Post is to show you how insurers can and WILL use social media against you to defeat your credibility and to defeat your personal injury case.
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When will my case settle?

When will I get compensation for my injuries?

When will my case close?

These are just a few of the most common questions that our lawyers are asked at our firm. They are very good questions to say the least. It’s entirely understandable when an inncocent, injured accident victim would want to know when their case will close and when they will receive compensation for their injuries. Living with a looming legal case over your head; having to worry about surveillance, medical appointments with insurance doctors; attending at discovery; attending at Court is all very worrying and taxing to one’s psyche.

For you and the insurance company, a closed file is a good file. And for innocent accident victims, settling their case helps bring a sense of closure and finality to the case; so that they can close that chapter of their lives; and move on the next. Our lawyers often see a catharsis and sense of relief; light a large weight/burden is being taken off a client’s shoulders once a case is closed and settled.

So, if there are so many positive elements to closing or settling one’s file; then WHY DOES IT TAKE SO DARN LONG TO DO SO?!?!?!
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So; you’ve been involved in a serious car accident. You were taken by ambulance to hosptial. They did a few x-rays, scans, gave you some pills, and told you to follow up with your family doctor.

Or, the injuries were more serious, and you were an in-patient at the hospital for a few days or weeks, and discharged home or to a long term health car facility (and then home afterwards).

Many people ask me where is the BEST place to recieve treatment following their respective car accident.

The right answer is that there is no single BEST place for treatment. At the end of the day, it’s important that you attend a doctor or rehabiliation facilty that’s right for you; and that you’re most comfortable with.

Rule of thumb: much like going to the gym to excercise; the closer the rehabiliation facility, the greater the likelihood that you will be diligent with your treatment. The longer the commute, the great chance tha you will miss out on appointments. That’s not good for your treatment, and certainly not good for your case.
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Our law firm sees some very seriously injured accident victims and disability claimants. Many of our long term disability clients who have cases against large multi national insurers such as Manulife, SunLife, Great West Life, Standard Life, Desjardins, Industrial Alliance, SSQ, Equitable Life etc; want to know how an insurer can place a dollar figure on their disability and inability to work for the rest of their lives.

For a disability claimant, the answer to this question can be very simple. If I can’t work for the rest of my life, then naturally, I should be entitled to MILLIONS of dollars worth of compensation. Afterall, my pain and suffering is immeasurable.

One of the most common misconceptions in long term disability cases is that claimants are entitled to damages to compensate them for their pain and suffering. This is NOT true. At our Law Firm, we refer to LTD cases as “four corner” cases. That means that your damages, or benefits, are limited to what the four corners of the policy provide for. If you have a bad policy, which, based on the wording of the policy will not properly compensate you in disability benefits; then your award will reflect that.

There are some situations where awards in long term disability cases can fall outside of the four corners of the policy.
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How does an insurer, judge or jury assess one’s pain level? If their pain is not showing up on any x-ray, scan, or test result, then how does a Court truly know that the claimant is in pain; and in fact telling the truth?

What’s stopping somebody from simply making a claim that they’re disabled, and lying to their doctor and to the Court alike?

How do we know that somebody is telling the truth about their subjective pain, fatigue or other cognitive difficulties (loss of memory, sadness, fatigue, loss of concentration etc.)?

These are all very good questions. Believe it or not, our the way that personal injury claims and long term disability claims work in Ontario make it pretty clear who’s faking, and who’s not.

First, we have to draw a distinction between an objective injury vs a subjective injury. An objective injury is one that will show up on an xray, scan or test. A factured ankle. A broken femur. A cranial facture. A hematoma on the brain. All of these are injuries which will show up on a test, which any doctor, or non-medical person can likely see. It’s pretty hard for an insurer to refute an ankle fracture injury when the x-ray clearly shows that the ankle is fractured.
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Hey Brian! As a lawyer, you must hear some crazy stories. (TRUE).

You probably have lots of strangers calling you every day, wanting to discuss their legal problems (TRUE).

What are some of the most commonly asked questions of you (GOOD QUESTION).

As an injury lawyer, we hear of, and see lots of crazy things; lots of sad things; and lots of things that you just can’t make up. Some of these stories, I’m not at liberty to share with the general public.

Regardless of the severity of the injury, one thing that ties most clients together are their questions and concerns for their respective cases. From Toronto to London to Peterborough, client questions are generally the same. Just shows you that geography, race, culture, creed; it doesn’t really matter. People are people, and they share many commonalities regardless of your background, upbringing, or the mechanism and nature of the injury.

So, without further a due, here are some of the most commonly asked questions we here from inquiries to Goldfinger Injury Lawyers.
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The laws continue to get tougher and tougher on accident victims in Ontario for no apparent reason.

Why?

It’s not like the victim of a drunk driving accident did anything wrong. So why is it then that innocent accident victims are being treated like criminals at every turn when dealing with large insurance companies? Is this the new reality?

It seems this way because it really is this way.

When No Fault Accident Benefits were introduced in Ontario circa the 1980’s, it was introduced as “consumer protection legislation” intended at helping accident victims recover from their injuires. In plain English, the laws were created and intended to PROTECT and ASSIST the CONSUMER (that’s you), in your time of need.

There was a contract in place between insured and insurer. The driver would pay premiums to the insurer. In return, should the driver need the insurer’s assistance, the insurer would step in and provide benefits to their insured so they could get back on their feet to business as usual.

So where did things go wrong?
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Catastrophic Injury claims, by their very nature, are the most serious car accident claims which a personal injury lawyer will face during their legal career.

The term “catastrophic” has a special meaning at law for car accident claims in Ontario. At law, we were refer to “castastrophic” as a term of art. This means that it has a special legal significance, and means something very specific which is defined in the Insurance Act.

If you meet the definition of “catastrophic“, you will be eligible for a greater amount of accident benefits. In particular,, you will be eligible for:

$1,000,000 in medical and rehabilitative benefits, instead of just $50,000 or $3,500 under the Minor Injury Guideline
Up to $1,000,000 in attendant care benefits, instead of just $36,000 for non-catastrophic car accidents
Up to $100/week in housekeeping and home maintenance, instead of ZERO for non-catastrophic claims
Up tp $250/week for a caregiver claim, plus $50 for each dependant, instead of ZERO for non-catastrophic injuries
These differences are signficant, and dramatically increase the amount of value to any car accident claim. But, how do one’s injuries meet the definition of “catastrophic” in the first place? Read on and I’ll fill you in.
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