When personal injury lawsuits come about insurance
companies do what they can to save themselves the hassle of a legal trial,
complicating the situation of the already wounded victim. Toronto disability
lawyers are experts at dealing with the complexities of personal injury cases,
and should be an immediate first step in attaining justice for the client. Using
complex terms such as "catastrophic injury” is a way in which they confuse the
client, and in turn can force away the victim’s case if they do not have proper
legal representation. Catastrophic injuries are not simple damages; they are
life changing injuries that typically permanently damage their victim.
Catastrophic Injury:
The Basics
A catastrophic injury is an overall term describing any injury that results in
severe and lifelong damages, almost always in combination with a permanent
disability or trauma. In accordance with the Ontario Insurance Act a catastrophic injury is any of the
following: paraplegia or quadriplegia, the amputation or other impairment
causing the total and permanent loss of use of both arms, the amputation or
other impairment causing the total and permanent loss of use of both an arm and
a leg, the total loss of vision in both eyes, brain impairment.
Catastrophic
injuries can be both physically and personally visible, and may take time to
appear in the wounded person’s personality. The term brain impairment can
involve anything from memory loss or other personality changes, to the full
loss of functioning sections of the brain. These kinds of impairment are not
immediately onset, and are usually not noticeable to the injured person at all.
The Ontario Insurance Act allows the
injured client to claim a legal case involving catastrophic injuries up to 120
days after the accident occurred, to give possible brain injuries time to
become fully diagnosable and apparent.
Claiming a Catastrophic
Injury- The Steps
Before anything else, a catastrophic injury must be diagnosed by a medical
physician. This diagnosis may happen immediately after seeking care for a
personal injury, or anytime thereafter. Due to the personal nature of some
catastrophic injuries, they may not be noticeable immediately after an accident
and take some time to be noticed by friends or family. Any changes in
personality, disposition, or memory after an accident can be connected to
catastrophic injuries within the brain and take time to emerge. Regardless of
the injury, a medical verdict must be the first step in applying for a
catastrophic injury suit.
Contacting a Toronto based disability lawyer is a step that should be done in
conjunction with investigating the severity or outcome of the catastrophic
injury. Disability lawyers are well trained to deal with victims of
catastrophic injuries, and understand the personal nature of these cases. It is
not only the victims of injury that are impacted, and the secondary parties
around the victim need equal support in the rehabilitation of their loved ones.
Well trained personal injury lawyers ensure that these secondary parties are
given the necessary help when a loved one is injured, and guarantee insurance
companies may for additional caregiver, housekeeping and therapy expenses that
may arise. Disability lawyers can also set forth a lifetime plan for the victim,
so that their needs are met in the long term.