A personal injury claim is where someone has been injured due to the intentional or negligent acts of another person or company.
When someone is injured and it is legally some other person or company’s fault, then they can pursue a law suit to get compensation for their injuries.
Generally speaking there are a few main types of claims for compensation that the injured person can make. These are called “heads of damages.” Think of these as a legally created “box” that the person claiming injury has to put their claim into in order to be legally entitled to compensation for it.
The main heads of damages are as follows:
- Non-pecuniary damages: Most people have heard this type of damages referred to as compensation for pain and suffering. This is an amount of money to reflect the unpleasant nature of an injury and the pain associated with it as well as the impact on your day to day life. A judge has broad discretion in making an award for pain and suffering and generally will look at past court decisions involving similar injuries.
- Past Income Loss: This is a claim for any money someone has lost because they were unable to work due to their injuries. A person making this claim has to show that their injuries stopped them from working, as opposed to some other reason.
- Future Loss of Capacity: This is a claim for how someone’s injury may affect their ability to work in the future. This could be a claim for what the person would have made over their working life, if the person is completely disabled from working for life due to injuries, or it could be an amount to reflect that the person’s injuries make them less able to do certain types of jobs or limit them to part time work, for instance.
- Special Damages: This is a claim for anything an injured person is out of pocket paying for. Usually this comes in the form of fees to get treatments not covered by universal Canadian healthcare, such as physiotherapy or massage therapy. This claim could also be for the cost to replace personal items damaged in an event that caused an injury, like if the force of falling broke someone’s watch. A person making this claim needs to have receipts for these costs in order to make a claim.
- Future Costs of Care: If any injured person needs ongoing assistance or care, they can make a claim for the future costs of this.
There are certain other types of claims that a person can make in an injury claim, but the above are the most common.
Compensation is based on the individual facts of each case and you should consult a lawyer if you are injured and want to know how much compensation you may be entitled to.