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Calculating pain and suffering in an Ontario car accident

To be involved in a car accident is one thing; calculating the damages incurred is another. Unlike in the United States of America, in Ontario, the compensation for pain and suffering incurred during the accident is limited. Read below to know in detail about how to calculate pain and suffering in an Ontario car accident.

Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages

Pecuniary damages are those that are countable, like a medical bill or loss of income. On the other hand, non-pecuniary damages are those that cannot be measured, like pain and suffering.

Calculating non-pecuniary damages

Following are the three kinds of approaches through which calculating pain and suffering in an Ontario accident can become easy:

Conceptual approach: The conceptual approach in non-pecuniary damage gives out a fixed rate to each valuable asset lost during the accident.

Personal approach: The personal approach takes into account the victim’s loss of happiness during the accident.

Functional approach: The functional approach in non-pecuniary damage aims at providing money to the victim to provide solace.

In Ontario, courts follow the functional approach.

Pain and suffering damages limited

The Supreme Court of Canada has implemented the rule that pain and suffering damages must be limited to around $360,000. But this happens quite rarely because not all cases reach the limit. In other words, the accident is not that severe that it calls for high non-pecuniary damage recovery.

The Insurance Act threshold

In Ontario, the Insurance Act has a limit called the threshold when it comes to accidents. Here, if the injuries of the victim do not reach the threshold’s level, then the victim’s entitlement to non-pecuniary damages reimbursement will be nullified.

The implementation of this threshold is the mere fact that only grave injuries can give an Ontarian the right to recovering pain and suffering damages.

Under the Act, the level of the threshold that counts for recovering non-pecuniary damages includes death, permanent disfigurement, or permanent injury to physical or mental functions of the body.

At the end of the day, the judge will decide if the damage incurred can fall under the threshold category. If the judge decides that the loss does not qualify for the threshold level, the victim will not receive anything for the pain and suffering damages.

The Insurance Act deductible

Another limit of the Insurance Act is the statutory deductible.

The statutory deductible is the sum of money that is deducted from the recovery of pain and suffering damages when the victim is involved in a vehicle collision.

At present, the statutory deductible comes up to $37,983.33.

The statutory deductible does not apply to non-pecuniary damage recoveries that exceed $126,610.07.

What are a victim’s pain and suffering worth?

As mentioned above, recovering non-pecuniary damages in Ontario is limited.  However, if the victim feels that the pain and suffering incurred calls for recovery, it is best to hire a professional Ontarian attorney. With legal experience, an attorney can fight the case and ensure that the victim gets the most out of the accident in terms of losses incurred.

Contact the personal injury lawyers at https://torontoinjurylawfirm.com for the best representation.

from Toronto Injury Law Firm https://torontoinjurylawfirm.com/calculating-pain-and-suffering-in-an-ontario-car-accident/