Auto accident lawyers in British Columbia are there to help you get what you deserve after the impediment to your life that an auto accident has caused. After all, if you have been injured in a car accident, then someone should pay for your inconvenience!
In Canada alone, there are approximately 160,000 automobile accidents, and 2900 people end up dying as a result of these accidents. Based upon stats from 2006 that come from the Insurance Company of British Columbia, better known as ICBC, there were greater than 50,000 automobile collisions for 2006 alone in the province of British Columbia. The end results of these 50,000 automobile collisions were more than 27,000 injuries as well as 413 deaths.
Needless to say, that is a huge amount of automobile accidents, which creates a need for auto accident lawyers! Unsurprisingly, each and every one of those car accidents brings with it devastating, personal consequences because of the personal injuries that they have created.
This is where an auto accident lawyer can be of such integral use. Auto accident lawyers in British Columbia are specialists at assisting the victims of automobile accidents in the province. Automobile accidents can take all shapes and sizes from simple car accidents to other kinds of accidents such as bicycle accidents, truck accidents, pedestrian accidents and motorcycle accidents. Auto accident lawyers, being experts in the field, are known for approaching each car accident case with excellent amounts of understanding.
If you have been in a car accident in British Columbia, there is a good chance that you will have to deal with ICBC at some point. Still, if you have been in such an accident, there is a likelihood that you might be uncertain of what to do. You could just go ahead and file a claim with ICBC. Alternately, ICBC may surprise you and even present you with an offer to settle! However, being a non-lawyer, you rightly doubt whether this settlement offer is to your benefit in the first place. In still other cases, ICBC may even boldly tell you that you are not really injured that badly and thus do not deserve a settlement at all!
Because of all of these pitfalls that inevitably come about as a result of dealing with ICBC, you are going to require the services of a personal injury lawyer in British Columbia. They will have the expertise that you need in order to navigate through all of the tricky decisions and situations that being involved in a car accident will inevitably lead to.
Visit www.bc-personalinjury-lawyer.com to set up a free consultation regarding your BC injury claim.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Friday, December 9, 2011
Calculating Personal Injury Damages in BC
Calculating personal injury damages is a double-edged sword in BC. One the one hand it's nearly impossible to know early in a claim what the personal injury claim is worth.
On the other hand, in my view, it's good that calculating personal injury claims in BC is impossible to do early in a claim because that is indicative of the fact that BC is NOT no-fault jurisdiction.
What does no-fault mean?
No-fault means that damages and compensation for personal injury (usually restricted to personal injury from motor vehicle accidents) is based on a chart. X injury results in $Y amount compensation. Each injury results in a set amount of compensation.
Many jurisdictions have gone over to a no-fault system, only to compensate injured victims (those who are not at fault) inadequately (in my opinion).
In BC there is a no-fault scheme with the Workers' Compensation system. Being familiar with this system, there are no shortage of people who are not pleased with the compensation they receive after injuries, especially more serious injuries.
In a nutshell, no-fault compensatory schemes give all the decision-making power to the insurance company. Seldom do cases go to Court for 2 reasons:
The Court has little or no discretion to vary a no-fault compensatory scheme because the amounts are set out in legislation; and
There are very few personal injury lawyers available to take on cases by contingency because the no-fault scheme effectively eliminates the opportunity for injured victims to take their claim to a Court.
Therefore, the fact that calculating personal injury damages in BC is difficult, if not impossible early in a claim, is in my view a good element of the BC personal injury system.
That said, it can be helpful for injured victims to get a better understanding how personal injury damages are assessed in theory. Read this great article that explains how to calculate personal injury ICBC claims in British Columbia to see in theory and the approach used in BC to assess personal injury claims (including claims stemming from motor vehicle accidents)>
On the other hand, in my view, it's good that calculating personal injury claims in BC is impossible to do early in a claim because that is indicative of the fact that BC is NOT no-fault jurisdiction.
What does no-fault mean?
No-fault means that damages and compensation for personal injury (usually restricted to personal injury from motor vehicle accidents) is based on a chart. X injury results in $Y amount compensation. Each injury results in a set amount of compensation.
Many jurisdictions have gone over to a no-fault system, only to compensate injured victims (those who are not at fault) inadequately (in my opinion).
In BC there is a no-fault scheme with the Workers' Compensation system. Being familiar with this system, there are no shortage of people who are not pleased with the compensation they receive after injuries, especially more serious injuries.
In a nutshell, no-fault compensatory schemes give all the decision-making power to the insurance company. Seldom do cases go to Court for 2 reasons:
The Court has little or no discretion to vary a no-fault compensatory scheme because the amounts are set out in legislation; and
There are very few personal injury lawyers available to take on cases by contingency because the no-fault scheme effectively eliminates the opportunity for injured victims to take their claim to a Court.
Therefore, the fact that calculating personal injury damages in BC is difficult, if not impossible early in a claim, is in my view a good element of the BC personal injury system.
That said, it can be helpful for injured victims to get a better understanding how personal injury damages are assessed in theory. Read this great article that explains how to calculate personal injury ICBC claims in British Columbia to see in theory and the approach used in BC to assess personal injury claims (including claims stemming from motor vehicle accidents)>
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wage Loss After a Car Accident in BC
In my experience working with injured car accident victims, many people never fully realize how important a steady income paycheque is until you don't get it anymore.
When paycheques stop, it can be frightening. Debt piles up quickly, payments are skipped, lifestyle and standard of living plummets. In general, even taking 4 weeks off work can have devastating financial consequences to anyone.
Yet, this is what happens to car accident victims. They're hurt and can't work. Unless they have extensive private disability insurance, obtaining wage loss benefits while recovering isn't always so easy. That said, there are several options for injured car accident victims in BC to get some form of wage loss relief while recovering from a car accident.
Please keep in mind that the following information for wage loss primarily pertains to people who are not at fault for the car accident in BC. This BC wage loss after a car accident article is really good in setting out options for financial relief after a car accident. It methodically goes through many options and how to go about applying for the type of financial relief.
Also, it's important to note that the above mentioned article, which is on the BC Personal Injury Lawyer website (a huge BC personal injury law resource), is all about wage loss immediately after the car accident. It doesn't go into the details about claiming for all lost wages in the lawsuit (tort action) against the at-fault driver. Full compensation is often possible, but it's not paid until the injury claim resolves.
When paycheques stop, it can be frightening. Debt piles up quickly, payments are skipped, lifestyle and standard of living plummets. In general, even taking 4 weeks off work can have devastating financial consequences to anyone.
Yet, this is what happens to car accident victims. They're hurt and can't work. Unless they have extensive private disability insurance, obtaining wage loss benefits while recovering isn't always so easy. That said, there are several options for injured car accident victims in BC to get some form of wage loss relief while recovering from a car accident.
Please keep in mind that the following information for wage loss primarily pertains to people who are not at fault for the car accident in BC. This BC wage loss after a car accident article is really good in setting out options for financial relief after a car accident. It methodically goes through many options and how to go about applying for the type of financial relief.
Also, it's important to note that the above mentioned article, which is on the BC Personal Injury Lawyer website (a huge BC personal injury law resource), is all about wage loss immediately after the car accident. It doesn't go into the details about claiming for all lost wages in the lawsuit (tort action) against the at-fault driver. Full compensation is often possible, but it's not paid until the injury claim resolves.
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