Benefits of Hiring a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer in Ontario -1-800-JUSTICE®

Navigating a catastrophic impairment claim can be complex and challenging, making it essential to have an experienced lawyer on your side. Claims involving severe injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries or significant physical impairments, require specialized knowledge and adherence to specific timelines. Preszler Injury Lawyers has a dedicated team of professionals, including case managers and healthcare experts, to help clients access the benefits they are entitled to. Many claims are denied by insurance companies, often due to the high costs associated with catastrophic impairments. With the reduction of government coverage and the intricacies of the claims process, having legal representation is crucial to ensure proper treatment and compensation. If you need assistance with a catastrophic impairment claim, contact Preszler Injury Lawyers at 1-800-JUSTICE for support.

The benefits of hiring a lawyer to handle a catastrophic impairment claim are numerous. First of all, as I have alluded to previously, catastrophic impairment is very specific and extremely complex. It is one of the more intricate areas of law in all of personal injury, and it is a defined term. The law firm you choose needs to have experience handling these types of claims.

Accessing the benefits is not as straightforward as one might think, and there are specific timelines that must be adhered to in order to qualify for them. When it comes to amputations or loss of vision, those are very straightforward claims. However, claims involving mental and behavioral disorders, physical impairments that result in a 55% whole person impairment, and traumatic brain injuries with positive imaging are not as clear-cut. Additionally, depending on the timing of your application, the criteria may change.

Having a lawyer with expertise in handling catastrophic impairment claims, like my firm, Preszler Injury Lawyers, is crucial. We manage hundreds of these claims and have an extensive team of case managers, occupational therapists, and registered nurses who have the experience necessary to help our clients access all the benefits they are legally entitled to. Unfortunately, many catastrophic impairment claims are denied by insurance companies. The reasons for these denials are clear: they do not want a $65,000 policy being turned into a million-dollar policy. It is very costly for an insurance company, and they know that once a person is deemed catastrophically impaired, they must provide access to and pay for a significant amount of treatment, which can lead to lifelong problems.

The government has reduced the coverage available for those most seriously injured. It used to be $2 million, but effective June 1, 2016, it has been reduced to $1 million. While this may sound like a lot, it is not sufficient for treatment over a lifetime, especially for younger victims. If you have serious physical injuries, such as amputations or paraplegia, you may require home modifications. Even for mental and behavioral disorders or other physical impairments, home modifications for safety purposes can be very expensive. Additionally, you will need access to attendant care, which is also costly. When catastrophically impaired, you can receive up to $6,000 per month for attendant care, whether it is provided by a personal support worker (PSW) or a nurse. Family members can receive the attendant care amount under certain circumstances, but this largely depends on their economic losses and whether they are professionals, such as a PSW or a nurse.

Accessing these benefits is complex, and the timelines must be adhered to. You need the right doctors to complete the necessary applications and assessments required to substantiate these claims. After filing what is called an OCF 19 form, or an application for catastrophic impairment, your insurance company will send you to various assessments through their facilities. Not surprisingly, many people who apply through the insurance company are denied access to their benefits, which is why a law firm like mine is very capable of disputing these denials for you. We ensure that we have the necessary evidentiary basis to succeed in a claim when it comes time to litigate.

Litigation is a whole other process that must be done correctly. There is an entire application system to dispute these benefits, and it must be followed while you navigate this process. You may also have insufficient coverage. If you have exhausted your $65,000 worth of available coverage while waiting to be approved as catastrophically impaired, it could take a year or even two years for that determination to be made.

In the meantime, my firm helps accident victims maintain their treatment. We ensure that the insurance company for the at-fault driver who caused the accident reimburses our clients for the treatment they have incurred while waiting for the catastrophic impairment process to unfold. There are also opportunities to settle catastrophic impairment claims. A lawyer with experience in this area knows how to value your claim and considers various factors to determine what it is worth over the course of your life. Sometimes, it may not be in your best interest to settle a claim. For example, if you are being offered 10 cents on the dollar, that does not make sense. As the offer approaches the true value of your claim, it starts to make more sense, and that is a discussion we like to have with our clients so they understand the possible outcomes and the process involved in being a claimant in a catastrophic impairment claim.

If you suspect or have been approved for a catastrophic impairment claim, it is always best to have a lawyer on your side to ensure that everything is done correctly and that the insurance company is fulfilling its legal obligations. We recommend that you give my firm a call. I would be more than happy to assist you with your catastrophic impairment claim, whether it is at the beginning or at any stage of your claim. We are here to help you get the benefits you are entitled to, and if a settlement is your goal, we can also help facilitate that process.