Car Accident / Personnel Injury

Naturally, your first concern should be the health and well-being of yourself and anyone else injured in the accident. Seek medical care for any injuries you’ve sustained, and, as soon as you feel healthy enough, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer.

You should take these first two steps no matter what type or cause of the accident, whether:

Motor vehicle accident
Motorcycle accident
Bike accident
Boating accident
Slip and fall
Abuse or assault
Dog bites
Pedestrian accident
Or any other incident that results in injuries

Even if you’ve been told or believe that your injuries will be covered by insurance, you should contact an injury lawyer. Insurance often fails to provide complete compensation for all of the various expenses that a personal injury can cause. Consider that Ontario’s “no-fault” car insurance program, which provides compensation no matter who may have caused the accident, provides maximum compensation of up to $50,000 for non-catastrophic injuries. While this might seem like a lot, many serious injuries require extensive medical and rehabilitation costs, along with months of recovery time, which can add up to expenses that go far beyond $50,000.

Given that the basis of your claim depends largely upon the extent of your injuries, documented evidence of your medical condition and treatment after the accident is crucial. Even if you declined medical help immediately after the accident, make sure you get a complete check-up at the hospital or through your health care provider as soon as possible. The full extent of some injuries may not become apparent until hours or even days after the accident occurred. Delayed treatment can raise the question of whether your injuries were actually caused by the incident raised by your legal claim.

As for the treatment itself, make sure that you keep all medical documents and bills and try to take down the names of any attending physicians, emergency medical technicians, and physical therapy specialists. If the extent of your injuries prevented you from doing this at the time of initial care, your accident lawyer should be able to track down the relevant medical records. Still, make sure you keep anything given to you by health care providers.