Your accident case can be ruined if you rush

If you come to an agreement too quickly, you may regret it

We often get calls from clients or others handling their own claims who are very eager to settle their personal injury accident claim for a quick cash settlement. There are times when our advice is to encourage them to hang on … the moment has to be right.

Wait until your injuries are well known

The extent of many injuries is often unknown for months or even years. For example, we had a 40-year-old client, “Sophie,” who had recovered from her initial neck and back injury, but still had some pain in her knee. Knee pain resisted diagnosis. They told him it was a sprain and strain. The insurance company doctor suggested that she had a rare birth defect that was causing her pain and had nothing to do with her accident. At first glance, it seemed like it was time to settle down because the injuries related to the accident had mostly healed.

Fortunately, a doctor finally took the time to run more important diagnostic tests on Sophie’s knee that revealed a damaged meniscus that required surgery. We resolved this claim 3 times longer than would have been possible if we had resolved it before we had the diagnosis in hand.

Are you back at full speed at work?

If you have not returned to work after your injury, or are working less than before the accident, you should definitely not settle your claim unless you are confident that you have achieved maximum medical recovery. (We call this MMR). In Ontario, where pain and suffering damages are limited, the claim for loss of income is often the most important component of a settlement. If you don’t know your final medical prognosis, how will you calculate your lost income? When will you go back to work? When will you come back full time? All those questions will remain unsolved. As you can probably guess, the insurance company is unlikely to make assumptions that will increase your settlement amount.

Ease the financial burden by maximizing your accident legal benefits

Our personal injury clients are sometimes impatient as the case progresses slowly, especially if they have financial difficulties in the meantime. Of course, we can understand this sentiment, but we also know that a little longer, even one more year, can make a really significant difference to the quantum of a settlement.

An important role that an attorney can play for you while you wait until the time is right to resolve your claim is monitoring your Accident Benefit claim. After a car accident in Ontario, you are entitled to legal accident benefits in most situations. If you qualify, these benefits cover your medical and rehabilitation expenses, visitation expenses, care for an aide, and cleaning expenses, to name a few of the benefits available.

Additionally, Accident Benefits provide weekly amounts as income replacement, caregiver expenses, or benefits for those with no income. These benefits are not a fortune. However, for many families, these amounts ease the financial burden of an accident, allowing them to “hang on” until their claim for compensation is resolved.

In most circumstances, having an attorney monitor your Accident Benefits while also working on your at-fault driver’s compensation claim will help ensure that you get the most of these benefits while the other case is in process. If you are handling your case on your own, you will want to pay close attention to your Accident Benefits.

Here is an example of the importance of monitoring your entitlement to accident benefits. In the spring of 2008, our law firm was contacted by the daughters of Claudio, an 82-year-old retired bricklayer, who had been injured in a car accident 10 months earlier. Claudio did not speak English. Even though you notified your insurer about the accident and they handled your property damage claim, the insurance company never sent you information about your Accident Benefits. It was necessary for the daughters to bring up their father’s struggles at home since the accident to alert the family doctor that accident benefits were there for him.

His family sent the forms, but he still had the feeling that his father was not receiving all the benefits he needed.

When our firm audited Claudio’s Accident Benefits file, we discovered that it had been traded for a sum of $ 49,000 in late payments and interest. A letter from my company and all arrears were paid and Claudio’s weekly and monthly payments began.

In other words, there is often little to gain and much to lose when you rush to settle your injury claim. This is true whether you hire a personal injury attorney or handle the case on your own. Take the time you need to build the case and understand your injuries.