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Have You Suffered a Catastrophic Injury in Ottawa?

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What Is Considered a Catastrophic Injury?

A catastrophic injury is normally the result of a serious car accident, motorcycle accident, brain injury, or spinal cord injury, but can be caused by various accidents. They are life changing injuries that result in a significant decline in your quality of life, having an extreme impact on your functions or abilities. They can have a profound psychological and financial impact on not only the victim, but their family members as well.

There are six main overarching conditions that are considered catastrophic in the legal sense in Ontario. Individuals who have suffered a catastrophic injury are entitled to more sizeable accident benefits and damages if they pursue catastrophic injury claims. One of these conditions needs to be met to fit the criteria.

These conditions are:

Paralysis – Either paraplegia or quadriplegia that leaves a person unable to use some or all limbs or torso which could result from a catastrophic spinal cord injury
Amputation – The amputation must result in complete loss of function of an arm or leg
Total loss of vision in both eyes
Severe brain impairment – Must result in 55% impairment of a person which would be a catastrophic brain injury
Mental or behavioural disability – Must result in 55% of a person becoming impaired in three or more functional areas

The laws that determine whether a person has suffered a catastrophic injury or not are complex and varied. Therefore, it’s critical to consult with an experienced catastrophic injury lawyer to determine whether or not your injuries qualify for catastrophic injury compensation. Let MG Law help you get the catastrophic injury compensation that you deserve.

What Are the Recent Changes to Ontario Catastrophic Impairment Law?

In 2016, there were four changes made to the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) as part of the Ontario Catastrophic Impairment Law which affects catastrophic injury settlements:

The maximum medical and rehabilitation benefits were reduced from $2 million to $1 million. They did however add a provision that allows motorists to increase their benefits to $2 million by paying an additional premium.
New definitions for Amputation, Loss of Vision, Traumatic Brain Injury, Mental Impairment, and Behavioural Impairment were added to the accident benefits schedule.
Before these changes, non-earners (students, stay at home moms and dads, and retired individuals) benefits were payable for life. Now, non-earners are entitled to benefits for only two years with weekly payments of $185.
Non-earner victims will also no longer have to wait for 26 weeks to begin receiving their payment. The new waiting period has been capped at four weeks.

Why Is It Important to Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Catastrophic injuries are not something that should be taken lightly. They have profound and lasting impacts on a person’s quality of life and often result in much higher catastrophic injury settlements. Therefore, insurance companies are very hesitant to hand them out and will make the cases as difficult as they can.

It’s important to meet with a catastrophic personal injury lawyer who is experienced dealing with these claims. Our team at MG Law will fight tirelessly to get you the results that you deserve. We will be there for you every step of the way, to get you the catastrophic injury compensation you deserve.

If you or someone you know has suffered from a catastrophic injury, it’s important to consult with a lawyer as soon as possible when all the details are fresh. We can help walk you through the process of getting police records, hospital records, interviewing witnesses and dealing with your insurance company. However, if you didn’t meet with a lawyer when the accident happened, you may still qualify for catastrophic injury compensation. You have up to two years from the time of the accident to pursue legal action and financial compensation.

Call us today at 613-730-8460 and get started with your free consultation. This meeting will allow us to get to know you and learn more about your accident, while at the same time allowing you to get any questions you have answered. You don’t have to face these unknown hurdles alone with MG Law at your side.

Important steps to take when injured

1. Call the police and tell them everything

Police statements are a valuable part of any court proceeding, so ensuring that the police have all the information you have available will reflect positively on your case.

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