Understanding Pain and Suffering Claims in Ontario -1-800-JUSTICE®

In Ontario, personal injury claims for motor vehicle accidents are subject to specific legal thresholds that can limit compensation for pain and suffering. Unlike many might expect, individuals generally do not have an automatic claim unless their injuries result in a permanent serious impairment of an important bodily function or a permanent serious disfigurement. For example, a broken leg that heals without surgery may not qualify for compensation. Additionally, even if a claim meets the necessary threshold, victims face a statutory deductible of $44,000, which increases annually. This legal framework can also affect the recovery of future healthcare expenses, leaving some victims responsible for their costs despite their injuries. For more information, contact “Preszler Injury Lawyers” at “1-800-JUSTICE”.

Another crazy fact relating to how the legal system works in motor vehicle accident or car accident claims is that when you get injured in an accident, most people think that they have an automatic claim for pain and suffering. Well, not so fast—not in Ontario. In Ontario, the law actually states that the starting point is that you have no claim for pain and suffering. The only time that you can get compensated for your pain and suffering is if your injuries meet a certain legal threshold.

That threshold is defined as a permanent serious impairment of an important bodily function or a permanent and serious disfigurement. What does that mean in real life? It means that you have to have an injury that is so serious that it affects your ability to work or your ability to perform most of your activities of daily living. But it goes further; it also has to be permanent, which has been legally defined as an impairment that lasts for an indefinite period of time.

So, what does this mean in practical terms? If you get run over by a drunk driver and you break your leg, but you do not need surgery and you get better—meaning that you have no more impairment from the broken bone because bones typically heal in six to eight or ten weeks—you are not entitled to any amount of money or compensation for your pain and suffering.

Now, to make it even worse, assuming you have an injury that meets what the law defines as the statutory threshold of a permanent serious impairment or a permanent serious disfigurement, the law then steps in again. After you have met that threshold, you then face the statutory deductible, which means that you, the victim, have to pay a $44,000 statutory deductible. By the way, this deductible increases each year on the first of January of each subsequent year. So, as your case progresses, if it takes two or three years, the deductible that applied on the day of the accident will be substantially more by the time your case concludes, provided inflation goes up.

These are the crazy facts that apply to car accident victim cases. Additionally, that threshold also affects your ability to recover for your future healthcare expenses. Even if you do not get better from your injuries but you are still able to work and perform most of your activities of daily living, and you are not disfigured in any way, you may still be responsible for all your future healthcare expenses. Even if you have been injured in the accident but have recovered to the point where you just need a little maintenance, you may not have the ability to recover damages for your future healthcare expenses as well.

This is another crazy fact that exists only in Ontario, based on our legislative scheme.