When you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries in a slip and fall accident, the physical, financial and emotional consequences that follow can have a devastating impact on yourself and your family.

Accidents are usually caused by someone’s fault or negligence. The Ontario Occupier’s Liability Act mandates that an owner/occupier of property “owes a duty to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that persons entering on the premises and the property brought by those persons on the premises are reasonably safe while on the premises.”

An experienced Pickering personal injury lawyer can advise, assist and advocate for you in such cases, since you may be entitled to receive compensation.

Loss of income because of inability to continue working, medical and rehabilitation expenses, pain and suffering, expenses incurred by family-members due to your injuries and also the loss of  guidance, care and companionship that was previously being  provided by the injured person are some of the areas where you are entitled to seek compensation.

Claiming Compensation

It’s important to get yourself thoroughly examined by a qualified doctor immediately after you suffer a slip and fall accident. Besides health, this is important to establish the causal connection between your injuries and the accident.

Your experienced Pickering personal injury lawyer can help you put together a robust claim for compensation.

Settlement Vs Trial

Insurance-companies who make the settlement payouts may not always act in good faith. Being for-profit organizations at the end of the day, their focus would be on protecting their own business interests. Hence, they may delay, deny, dismiss or dispute your claim, or attempt to show that you were somehow partly responsible for the accident, thus reducing their own client’s liability.

Proving the chain of ownership and responsibility of the property, establishing the fault/negligence that caused the accident, fixing liability and demonstrating the impact of the injuries on your and your family’s life can be challenging.

Filing a personal injury suit against the at-fault party is one way of getting the compensation you deserve. However, more than 90% of personal injury claims in Canada are settled out-of-court, though the trial option remains open until the statute of limitations runs out.

• Trials can be expensive when you calculate lawyer’s fees, including travel and billable hours.

• Generally, a trial can take years to reach a verdict, following which there may be appeals etc.

• Cross-examinations, supplying proof, the adversarial process and procedures can be overwhelming.

• Compensation claims are made to restore your life to normalcy and reimburse you for the financial losses you’ve suffered. Trials can delay this.

• Your privacy can be severely compromised in a trial since everything becomes a matter of public record. Out-of-court settlements come with confidentiality agreements.

• The outcome in trials is unpredictable. You may not be awarded compensation at all if a jury/judge thinks your claim is invalid.

• However, if you sincerely believe that you need your day in court, or the insurance-company’s settlement is too meager and that the defendant should be penalized publicly, you may prefer a trial.

Your knowledgeable and experienced Pickering personal injury lawyer can assist you with analyzing and understanding each of these aspects.