Compensation From Ontario Courts For Pecuniary Damages

Why has the Supreme Court in Canada chosen to put a cap on the amount of money that a car accident victim can seek for pecuniary damages? That decision was made because an ever-growing number of victims had sought a large amount of money, as compensation for pain and suffering.

At the present time, the sum of $364,000 represents the maximum amount of money that any victim with a catastrophic injury can win for pain and suffering. Still, there is no limit on the amount that can be requested to cover medical bills, or to replace lost future earnings.

Role of lawyer, when representing a Canadian injured in a car accident

First, the car accident lawyer in Waterloo must reveal the nature of the victim’s injury. Was it a catastrophic injury? If so, the attorney should produce proof of that fact.

Proof must come in the form of evidence. Personal injury lawyers in Canada collect evidence that can support a claim that a client/victim has suffered a catastrophic injury. Lawyers can find useful evidence in a client’s medical bills, in an assessment of the property damage (typically damage to a car, truck, van or SUV), in estimates of the amount of income lost by the client, and in reported examples of the client’s physical and emotional stress.

What are some examples of a client’s emotional distress?

Projections focused on the effect of the injury on the victim’s life now and in the future. Will he or she be able to earn a living? Will he or she need to get re-trained in order to re-enter the workforce? Will he or she become dependent on a caregiver? A “yes” answer to any one of those 3 questions helps to strengthen the argument for substantial pecuniary damages.

The victim’s ability to recover from his or her injuries. A prolonged recovery tends to strengthen an argument that the accident victim has been forced to deal with a large amount of emotional stress.

A long recovery also puts a big hole in the resume of the recovered victim. When a Human Resources department sees a hole in a resume, it hesitates to recommend the hiring of the person that has submitted such a resume. Consequently, the recovered adult often finds it difficult to locate a paying job. That roadblock can add to the level of the job-seeker’s emotional distress.

A good lawyer should make use of that fact. Perhaps that victim/client agreed to undergo a period of retraining, in order to gain the skill demanded in a more suitable job. If that were the case, the same client would certainly become upset, when the new skills did not aid discovery of a new job.