• Report the incident to the police and the insurance company promptly. Your failure to do so may compromise any claim you might have. It’s particularly important to do that immediately if you’re injured in a “hit and run.”
• Talk to a lawyer.  Many lawyers handle motor vehicle cases and most offer free consultations. David is one of them and if you want to talk to him, he can be reached at (604) 583-7917, or by email at (dgreig@gwrlawyers.com) dgreig (at) gwrlawyers (dot) com.  David frequently answers basic questions by phone and does not charge for that.
• Buy a cheap calendar, diary, or notebook from a local store.  Make notes about the incident. Record the names of any witnesses, and details of the collision.  Write down the names of doctors you’ve seen, and record your injuries, medications, and treatments. Keep it simple, but try to record the important stuff. If you’re still sore in 9 months, you won’t likely be able to remember the details.
• Follow the advice of your care-givers.  If the doctor prescribes medication, take it, or tell your doctor that you can’t or won’t.  If X-rays are ordered, get them done. If physiotherapy, chiropractic care, or RMT are recommended, go for it!  Your failure to undertake appropriate treatment can come back to haunt you.
• Finally, never, ever settle unless you’ve obtained some legal advice about the value of your claim. If you sign a release and take the money, you’re “finished”.  If you later discover that your case was worth three times what you settled for, it’s too late.

During his personal injury career David Greig notes he has had cases were clients have received reasonable offers from ICBC, and wanted to settle. In those cases he encouraged them to settle and in those circumstances, there were no legal fees and no delay.  But how do you tell if an offer is reasonable? Advice from an experienced personal injury lawyer is invaluable if you want to be sure that a settlement offer you receive from ICBC is reasonable and it’s even more critical if it turns out the offer is not what it should be given the circumstances. Talking to a personal injury lawyer, like David Greig, will give you peace of mind that you are being fairly compensated and if it turns out you’re not….you’ve got someone on your side to help you with further negotiations or taking your case to trial.

Being in a car accident is news – bad news, but news nonetheless.  However, as the personal injury lawyers at Taylor & Blair caution it’s not news that should be shared on social media. The lawyers at LawOne member firm Taylor & Blair caution:

It is imperative to your claim that you do not post or have others post photos of you that could be wrongly interpreted on the internet or any social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace.  ICBC has been known to pursue information and photos of personal injury claimants on these sites and to use it to the detriment of personal injury claimants.

Graham Taylor and Kevin Blair are quick to point clients to a recent article in The Canadian Press reviewing cases out of the Newfoundland and Ontario courts where personal injury claims were reduced or potentially jeopardized because evidence contradicting the extent and impact of injuries alleged by the plaintiffs was found on social networking sites like Facebook.

In the Newfoundland case the plaintiff, Dennis Terry, was claiming $1.3 million for his injuries.  However, after reviewing the plaintiff’s Facebook profile the judge reduced the claim to $40,000 for general damages and suffering because the profile content did not support the plaintiff’s claims.

Read the full judgement in Terry v. Mullawney & Terry v. Sinclair.

In the second situation, Ontario Superior Court Justice David Brown ruled that the defence was entitled to cross examine a plaintiff on the content of his postings on Facebook including content that was shielded by privacy controls and therefore not publicly available.  The judge rejected the plaintiff’s argument that Facebook privacy controls should operate to prevent the defendant’s lawyer accessing information in aid of his client’s case.  Instead the judge found that because the primary purpose of social networking sites (like Facebook) is to enable people to share information about their lives that this information may well be relevant to discrediting a plaintiff’s claims about their injuries and therefore was potentially relevant to ensuring a fair trial.  The court ruled that it was unfair to deny the defendant access to the material.

So, just because you have limited access to your profile on a social media platform or social networking site DO NOT assume that it will protect information displayed or transmitted through those sites from a court order.  The best policy is to let your lawyer handle any photos or other evidence regarding the nature of your injuries.

Need a lawyer to help you with your ICBC claim or have questions about your personal injury case?  Contact the lawyers at Taylor & Blair.

When to contact a lawyer?

You have 90 days from the date of the accident to file a claim with ICBC.  It’s best to speak to a lawyer before you talk to ICBC. But, don’t panic if you have already reported the accident, talked to an ICBC adjuster or even signed documents.  It’s not too late.  You can have a lawyer review your case at any time during the process and if need be they can take steps to make sure you are treated fairly.  Once you have a lawyer they can take over the claims process which means they will deal with ICBC for you.  This includes making sure your claim is filed in time to meet any time limits that affect your entitlement to compensation, sorting out what benefits you are entitled to, preparing medical reports and compensation proposals for presentation to ICBC, conducting settlement negotiations and arranging for payout of benefits to you.

How do you find a personal injury (or ICBC lawyer) in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley, Hope or elsewhere in the Fraser Valley?

Many people have no experience with lawyers or think they can’t afford legal advice.  If you have a lawyer for other matters (like your business, buying or selling your home or estate planning) you can ask that lawyer for a referral to a personal injury lawyer. Or, use your business and personal network to get the names of lawyers or law firms to call. If that doesn’t work, try a Google search using the phrase “personal injury lawyer” or “ICBC lawyer” along with your geographic location e.g. “personal injury lawyer Abbotsford.”  This will pull up search results for law firms who advertise on the internet.

If money is a concern (and it often is if you’ve been injured and can’t work), many personal injury lawyers offer free initial case consultations and contingency fee arrangements.  A contingency fee arrangement means that your lawyer will take your case and accept payment only after a settlement has been reached.  Contingency fees are typically based on a percentage of the settlement you receive from ICBC.  Your lawyer should explain how this will work but you should not hesitate to ask specific questions about what legal fees and other costs you will need to pay.  Other costs can include administrative fees to file a lawsuit, the cost of expert medical reports, courier charges and other costs associated with running your file.

What compensation can you claim for your injuries?

There are two types of compensation available if you’ve been inured in a car accident. The first are Accident Benefits (also called “no fault” or Part 7 benefits) which are available to anyone involved in the accident regardless of whether they are at fault.  ICBC Accident Benefits cover:

• medical care
• rehabilitation
• wage loss compensation
• homemaker benefits
• death benefits, and
• funeral benefits.

If you have permanent injuries, Accident Benefits also pays for costs such as:

• attendant care,
• specialized aids and
• vocational training, depending on your injuries.

The second are Settlement Benefits (also called damages or a tort claim) which are available to people who are injured and were not at fault, or only partly at fault, for the accident. The tort claim addresses compensation for pain and suffering, out of pocket expenses, past wage loss, future wage loss due to permanent or partial disability, future costs of rehabilitative care and other losses not covered by Part 7 accident benefits.  The compensation available under a tort or damages claim is more comprehensive and extensive than compensation available under an Accident Benefits claim.

What a personal injury lawyer will do for you.

Lawyers understand the legal principles that affect your case and will make sure you meet all the procedural requirements as well as making sure that all the relevant evidence is collected and presented properly. Your lawyer will:

• Review your version of the accident and file all necessary paperwork to preserve your right to insurance benefits.
• Assess whether fault is an issue and how it affects your right to compensation.
• Get your permission to collect medical and employment information relevant to your claim and explain what compensation is available to you.
• Enlist your primary doctor and any specialists involved in your treatment and recovery plan to prepare a narrative medical report on your injuries including the diagnosis and prognosis for recovery.
• When your doctor confirms you have recovered or reached a stage where no further progress is likely, prepare a settlement proposal for presentation to ICBC including all relevant evidence and outlining your position on fair and acceptable compensation for your injuries.

Depending on the nature of your injuries it can take a significant amount of time to determine the extent and severity of your injuries.  Your right to start a lawsuit is governed by strict time limits which may end up being shorter than the time you need to recover.  So, to preserve your rights, while you are recovering your lawyer may:

• Start a lawsuit that names the other driver and any other parties at fault and serve notice of the lawsuit on ICBC who will appoint a lawyer to deal with your file.
• Set a trial date and arrange for examinations for discovery where your lawyer and ICBC’s lawyer exchange documents relating to the accident and you (accompanied by your lawyer) provide evidence to ICBC’s lawyer in front of a court reporter. ICBC’s lawyer is entitled to ask you about the accident, medical information including diagnosis, treatment and prognosis and about the impact your injuries have had on your life.  ICBC does this to assess the claim and advise your adjuster about what they think the claim is worth and to confirm your version of events.
• Your lawyer will evaluate settlement offers from ICBC and advise you whether it’s acceptable or whether a counter offer is appropriate.
• If you make a decision to accept ICBC’s offer your lawyer will finalize a settlement agreement and arrangement for you to receive the compensation agreed.  Or they will counteroffer and proceed to negotiate with ICBC until either an agreement is reached or it becomes clear the matter will have to go trial for resolution.

Most ICBC injury claims do not go to court.  Because 9 out of 10 cases are resolved through negotiation it is critical to make sure that all evidence relevant to the accident and its aftermath has been collected, evaluated, and quantified for use in any settlement negotiations, offers and counter offers.  This is where a lawyer is invaluable.  Lawyers are trained to evaluate and negotiate, they know how to present medical and economic loss information in a way that ICBC will understand, they have the ability to assess ICBC offers and advise you when it’s in your best interests to counter offer or take a case forward to court, and where necessary they can represent you in court.

Need more information or help with your ICBC injury claim?

Contact the Fraser Valley’s own…the personal injury lawyers at Robertson, Downe & Mullally (www.rdmlawyers.com) located in the heart of downtown Abbotsford and serving communities located throughout the Fraser Valley including:  Chilliwack, Hope, Langley, Maple Ridge, Matsqui, and Sumas.