How An Accident Claim Might Be Affected By Certain Restrictions?

Different states within Canada have different rules, regarding how a claim should be made, when more than one person is at fault for a given accident. Under most laws, one of the careless and neglectful parties (defendants) provides the victim with the full amount of deserved compensation. Then the one liable party that has paid the victim can sue for compensation from the other liable parties.

How do the defendants learn about the plaintiff’s (victim’s) plan?

After an accident, none of those involved can know for sure whether or not they might be held responsible for what has happened. Sometimes one group learns in court that it has been held liable in a personal injury case. Still that same group would have reason to assume that there are others, all with varying amounts of responsibility.

For that reason, a plaintiff must notify each party of his or her future plans. That notification should certainly mention any plan to file a claim for damages. After receiving such notification, the recipients can decide who will be providing the plaintiff/victim with the expected money.

Although this system does demand that the victim/plaintiff complete an extra step, it really was designed to help all victims. If the person that got injured had to take action against each of the liable parties, the awarding of compensation would get delayed. Now, the completion of a single letter diminishes he likelihood for such a delay.

How is the claim affected if the victim has been careless?

If a personal injury case gets tried in court, the judge will look closely at how any carelessness shown by the plaintiff/victim compared with the careless and neglectful behavior of the defendant. In legal terms, the judge seeks evidence of comparative negligence on the part of the plaintiff. The degree to which a judge’s findings might please a defendant could depend on the state in which the personal injury case has been tried.

Different laws have different restrictions, regarding the awarding of compensation. Those restrictions dictate what should happen when there is proof of comparative negligence on the part of the plaintiff. In the most generous states, a victim/plaintiff can recover compensation according to the degree to which the defendant has been found “at-fault.”

Unfortunately, not too many states are that generous. In a majority of cities, the victim/plaintiff can only be compensated if he or she was responsible for less than 50% of the damages that have resulted from the accident. A few laws make victims pay greatly for any amount of carelessness.

A victim has little reason to expect any form of compensation, under certain circumstances. Those circumstances would have provided a judge with evidence that the same victim has been found to be partially at fault for the accident-caused damages and injuries. Even if that partial amount represents just a small fraction of the total damages, the unfortunate victim/plaintiff will be denied any compensation. That is why it is essential to work with a personal injury lawyer in Stouffville so that the victim’s rights are safeguarded.