5 Factors that Affect the Value of Your Ontario Accident Case
If you are like most of our Ottawa accident clients, you are very keen to know how much your accident case is worth. Who can blame you? You are going through this stressful legal process, it makes sense that you want to know whether your case is worthwhile.
Unfortunately, we often can’t tell you what your Ontario accident case is worth until well into file. However, what we can tell you are factors that will influence the value of your case. Here, in no particular order are 5 key factors that impact on the monetary value of your case:
- Do you have a provable loss of income claim? InOntario, this is often the single biggest component of someone’s settlement or trial judgment.
- Have you attended your physician on a regular basis since the accident and described all your symptoms at every visit. Medical records documenting symptoms carry a lot of weight.
- Has your family physician sent you to specialists to diagnose and / or treat your injury? Remember that in many cases you have to ask for a referral to a specialist.
- Where applicable, have you had an MRI, CT scan, ultrasound x-ray or other diagnostic test? An injury that shows up in medical imaging will usually be better compensated than an injury that does not. Where there is a “picture” of the injury, the issue of credibility is removed. If you think you would benefit from one of these tests, ask your doctor.
- Are you able to identify specific changes to your lifestyle as a result of the accident? Accident victims who are able to consistently specify activities that they could do before the accident and that they cannot do after the accident tend to do better financially with their claim than accident victims who complain of “pain” but are not limited in their actions.
