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Posts Tagged: motor vehicle accident

Pre-Existing Conditions and the Minor Injury Guideline > Accident Benefits – Part 6

One exception to the Minor Injury Guideline are pre-existing medical conditions which “will prevent the insured person from achieving maximal recovery from the minor injury if he or she is subject” to the Minor Injury Guideline (i.e. the $3,500 hard cap).

This exception is only expected rarely, as explicitly set out in Paragraph 4 of the Minor Injury Guideline:

Only in extremely limited instances where compelling evidence provided by a health practitioner satisfactorily demonstrates that a pre-existing condition will prevent a person from achieving maximal recovery from the minor injury for the reasons described above is the person’s impairment to be determined not to come within this Guideline.… Continue Reading

Minor Injury Guideline > Accident Benefit Changes in Ontario – Part 5

A significant change in September, 2010 was to introduce a new concept, the “Minor Injury Guideline”, into the lexicon of car accident claims in Ontario.

The actual Minor Injury Guideline is found on the FSCO (Financial Services Commission of Ontario) website here.

The Minor Injury Guideline imposes a $3,500 hard cap on the Accident Benefits insurer’s obligation to fund all treatment and assessments for those injuries that fall within.

Simply put, if you have an injury that falls inside the Minor Injury Guideline, you will then only receive up to $3,500 in treatment in Accident Benefits.… Continue Reading

Mediation in Lawsuits > Obligations of Parties To Mediate

You start a lawsuit after being hurt in a car accident. Your lawyer asks the defendant to the lawsuit (i.e. the insurance company of the defendant) to meet and discuss potentially settling your case, with the help of an experienced neutral lawyer who will help facilitate conversation, but the insurance company refuses. They refuse because they say your injuries are minor; that legal case is worth very little in terms of potential damages; and potentially, that you may recover nothing in your lawsuit as a result of the Bill 198 threshold and deductible (see our previous blogs for explanation of Bill 198).… Continue Reading

Being Examined by an Insurance Doctor > Videotaping the Assessment

There has been a shift in Ontario in recent years, in the personal injury field of law, towards plaintiff counsel pushing for certain defence medical assessments of their clients being videotaped.

In Ontario, if you bring a lawsuit seeking damages arising from your injuries, then the defendant(s) in your lawsuit are entitled to generally to require you to submit to at least one medical assessment, by a doctor of their choice, in order to respond properly to your lawsuit. See Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 33.Continue Reading

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Dying From Car Accidents > Families of Deceased To Receive More in Compensation

In addition to the new changes to Ontario’s Accident Benefits system, as found in our various previous blogs, there have also been changes to Ontario’s Insurance Act governing car accidents and claims arising.

One positive change for the families of people who die as a result of a car accident is the elimination of the tort deductible for fatality claims; this tort deductible was increased in 2003 under the Bill 198 legislation concerning car accidents.

The change is found in the Financial Services Commission of Ontario’s bulletin A-17/10 and also at s.267.5 of the Insurance Act.… Continue Reading

Unlawful Arrest over $0.65 Newspaper > Woman Awarded $4,500 plus Costs

An interesting case reviewing the balance between a retail store trying to prevent theft and the rights of a customer suspected of theft – Twan v. Hudson’s Bay Company (2008) 93 O.R. (3d) 582 (Div. Ct.)

In short, Ms Twan was in an Ottawa “The Bay” store and after paying something towards her “The Bay” store credit card (for which she had a $1,500 credit limit), she left the store and did not pay for a $0.65 newspaper.

She was asked to return into the store by an undercover security guard. … Continue Reading