Published on:

Client after client after client tell me that their personal injury case is worth MILLIONS…No wait…BILLIONS of dollars. The reality is that some cases are worth millions, other cases… well….just aren’t.

The real money in personal injury cases is NOT for pain and suffering. Pain and suffering damages are CAPPED in Canada. You read that right. Pain and suffering damages are CAPPED in Canada. That cap sits at around $310,000-$325,000 or so; depending on inflation and who you ask.

The real money for personal injury cases is in future care costs and loss of income or loss of future earning capacity. This blog entry will examine what it takes to establish a past and future income loss claim.

Published on:

As you may know, Goldfinger Injury Lawyers recently expanded our territory, by opening a new office in London, ON. We are located in the heart of downtown London, at 341 Talbot Street, right next to the John Labatt Centre (Go Knights!) and the Farmer’s Market. If you’re ever in town, come by and check out our London office. Some say it’s nicer than our Toronto office, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. By opening our London office, we hope to better serve our clients in Southwestern Ontario. We’ve seen lots of new clients from London, Saint Thomas, Rodney, Bleheim, Oxford, Embro, Thurold, Arva, Drumbo, Blenheim, Chatham, Woodstock, Thames Centre, Ingersoll, Kintore, Thorndale and Tillsonburg. We are proud to serve these under-represented communities and provide these individuals with access to Ontario’s courts and access to justice.

What can I tell you about about practicing in Southwestern Ontario? It snows snows snows out here. And with snow comes slush, ice, poor road conditions and poor visibility. With poor road conditions and poor visibility comes more accidents.

Here are some of the top 5 questions/scenarios we’ve seen or been asked this winter:

Published on:

Our office gets a number of calls every week from people wanting to know if they qualify for Long Term Disability (“LTD”) benefits; how they can make a claim; or just how their LTD policy works.

This article in intended to give you a bit of help in better understanding the complicated world of Long Term Disability Benefits.

    LONG TERM DISABILITY BENEFITS: WHAT ARE THEY?
Published on:

In the case of Keam v. Caddey, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered that the insurance company pay to the Plaintiff $40,000 in ADDITION to damages for pain and suffering because the insurance company REFUSED to participate in the mediation process before the case went to trial. The Insurance Act REQUIRES that parties in a car accident case MEDIATE the disputes before it goes to trial. Our legistlature has also called for Mandatory Mediation in certain provincial jursidictions, like Toronto. The Ontario Court of Appeal found that the insurance company’s hard ball tactic of REFUSING to MEDIATE warranted a $40,000 penalty against the insurer.

The Honourable Justice Kathryn Feldman writing for the Ontario Court of Appeal stated “it is this approach that the legislature has disavowed by making mediation mandatory.”

My comments about this decision were quoted in the recent edition of the Law Times Journal. The link to the article is:

Published on:

When you think about car insurance, it probably makes you gag or fall asleep Seriously! Who wants to hear about things like deductibles, benefits, premiums or the Insurance Act. It’s all a bore.

Our government has made Ontario’s Car Insurance so dense, so thick, and so complicated that changes to the Insurance Act aren’t even made within the Insurance Act anymore. Instead, they’re made into separate “Schedules” which are completely different Acts in and of themselves Genious!

These “Schedules” are called the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule or SABS for short. There are SABS for accidents on or after January 1, 1994. There are separate SABS for accidents on or after November 1996. There are separate SABS for accidents on or after December 2002. There are separate SABS for accidents on or after September 2010. Get the picture? Now who on earth has the time or the patience to go over this, know where to find the updated SABS or even understands what the SABS are trying to talk about. I can tell you this. They aren’t in plain to understand English that’s for sure. Try taking them to your local MPP and ask for their help in interpreting them. They’ll be as dumbfounded as you. But it’s the MPPs and our government who are the architects of the SABS…go figure…

Published on:

Car Accident Injury more than meets the eye.Ontario has a very complicated accident benefits system for car accidents. Car accident lawyers have to keep up with the changes in the laws, which occur regularly.

If you or a loved one has been hurt or injured in a car accident, you are allowed to claim accident benefits. For some, the most important group of accident benefits are those relating to income, caregiver and non-earner benefits. All of these benefits represent money which is potentially available to you in the event that you are not able to lead a normal life as a result of your car accident.

The thing that insurance companies DO NOT tell you, is that you have the right to chose which benefits you would like. This is called an “election”, and there is a special form that you must complete in order to elect one of these three benefits. If you DO NOT elect one of these three benefits, then the insurance company will pick a benefit for you; and it will likely be a benefit which is advantageous for them, and not for you.

Published on:

One of the most important things for an accident victim to understand when pursuing their personal injury case is how the laws of damages apply to their individual case. The laws of damages are very important, because at the end of the day, how damages work has a direct impact on how much compensation an accident victim will receive at the conclusion of their personal injury case.

One of the examples that we use to illustrate the importance of how the laws of damages impact personal injury cases, is providing the example of what if Superman were involved in a car accident?

One nice summer day Superman is crossing the street as a pedestrian on his way to the local library. Suddenly and without warning, a drunk truck driver runs a red light and crashes directly into Superman; while Superman is crossing on a green light in between a cross walk. The accident is clearly not Superman’s fault.

Published on:

Bicycles and motorcycles aren’t equipped with the same safety features as the other motor vehicles which they share the roads with. There aren’t any airbags, re-inforced steel doors or side curtain absorption cushioning on any motorcycles or bicycles on the roads. Bikes and motorcycles have to share the roads with much larger, heavier and stronger vehicles. Dedicated bike lanes are few and far in between in our cities. Bikes and motorcycles are an afterthought on our roadways. But when a motorcycle or bicycle is involved in a car accident; it’s often front page news because the injuries are so severe and can often be life threatening.

A helmet may protect your head, but it may not be enough to save you from serious injury in a bike or motor cycle accident. Brain injury, loss of limb, spinal injury, skin grafting and broken bones are common place in bike and motorcycle accidents.

Given the severity of the damages in these sort of accidents, why would you even risk not contacting a personal injury lawyer right away? A personal injury lawyer will ensure that your rights are protected and help you get the medical and financial support in your time of need.

Published on:

Many people who have been hurt or injured in an accident ask me why they should contact a lawyer. What will a lawyer do for me that I cannot do for myself?

The answer is simple. A personal injury lawyer will protect your rights to ensure that your claim is protected and to ensure that you are not taken advantage of by the insurance company opposite your claim.

For many, a traumatic accident such as a high speed car accident or bicycle accident represents the first time that they’ve experienced dealing with a serious personal injury claim. As a first time accident victim, you will not have any idea where to start.

Contact Information