Burlington Car Accident Lawyer

Burlington is one of the top five most dangerous cities in Ontario for drivers, with a high number of traffic tickets, crashes, and insurance claims.

If you’re injured in a car collision in Burlington or in any neighbouring community, contact me at Derek Wilson Injury and Disability Law for a free consultation. Consulting with a Burlington car accident lawyer early in the process ensures someone is looking out for your right to compensation.

Understanding Car Accidents in Burlington

If you’re in a car accident in Burlington, you’ll first apply for accident benefits through your own insurance company, regardless of who was at fault.  This allows you to get prompt benefits to pay for medical care, lost income, and other losses.

However, if someone’s actions did cause your collision — for example, if you were hit by a distracted driver who was texting while driving — you may also be able to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party or their insurer. This allows you to seek additional compensation for your injuries, especially for expected future expenses.

Deciding to file a lawsuit is important because your injuries may end up costing you a lot more than you expect. If you decide not to file now but realize years later that you face additional expenses, you will have lost out on the chance to get fairer compensation. You don’t want to leave money on the table, especially with the increasing cost of healthcare and living costs in Ontario. Getting fair compensation now ensures you don’t face a financial disaster later.

The Benefits of Hiring a Car Accident Lawyer

Only British Columbia has higher car insurance rates than Ontario, and the cost of coverage is on the rise. You hope that paying all those expensive premiums will mean your insurance company helps you when you’re in a car accident, but many Ontarians find that’s not the case. You may find that after being a loyal customer of your insurance company for years that when you’re injured, scared, and hurt after a car accident, you also have to fight the insurer to get your rightful benefits.

A Burlington car accident lawyer is a type of personal injury lawyer who can help you when you most need it. A lawyer with experience in car accident claims can find all liable parties, can negotiate with insurance companies, can investigate your accident, and can work to get you fair compensation.

Think about it this way — your insurance company isn’t legally required to act in your best interests. In fact, they’re obligated to make a profit for their shareholders. Your lawyer, on the other hand, is required to offer advice that protects your interests and is obligated to provide a reasonable standard of legal services. In other words, your lawyer is legally obligated to be in your corner in a way your insurer just isn’t. The advantage is that your lawyer will work hard to get you fair compensation for your injuries.

Another benefit of working with a car accident lawyer is that you’ll have someone to help you navigate the process. A lawyer will remove the burden of having to work on your case. He or she will be the one to file paperwork, navigate the discovery process, negotiate with the insurance company, and even take your case all the way to court if that’s what it takes. This frees you to focus on yourself.

Common Car Accident Injuries and Damages

In Burlington and across Ontario, car accidents can lead to a range of serious injuries. These can include:

• Traumatic head injuries (TBIs)
• Spinal cord and back injuries
• Injuries to the face, including scarring, dental injuries, and eye injuries
• Broken bones, including compound fractures
• Internal injuries
• Amputations
• Soft tissue injuries, contusions, and strains and sprains
• Emotional trauma

If you have sustained these or other injuries, you may have the right to seek compensation for your injuries. You may be eligible for compensation for your pain and suffering, for example. While pain and suffering can seem like an abstract concept, your Burlington car accident lawyer will consider the severity of your injuries and the impact your car accident has had on the quality of your life, your future prospects, and your relationships to come up with a number.

While this money won’t eliminate the suffering you’ve experienced as a result of your car accident, it can help you rebuild your life. It can free you from money worries so you can start moving forward.

Of course, your car accident is also likely to result in various expenses. You can seek compensation for these costs, too, which can include:

• Medical costs not covered by OHIP, including rehabilitation, medication, medical devices, and future expected medical expenses
• Out-of-pocket expenses, such as the cost of transportation or the cost of adding a ramp to your home if you need a wheelchair
• Future expenses, including future expected medical costs
• Property damage, including any repairs needed for your car and personal effects damaged in the crash
• Income loss if you can’t work

If you lose a loved one in a car accident caused by someone’s neglect, you may also be able to seek compensation for their final medical costs and for funeral and burial expenses. If the person who was killed was your spouse or someone who contributed to your household income, you may also seek compensation for the future loss of financial support, too.

How much you can expect to recover will depend on the severity of your injuries, the cause of your car accident, and the liable parties. Every case is different, which is why consulting with a Burlington car accident lawyer is important. An experienced lawyer has seen hundreds or thousands of local car accident claims and has a strong sense of how much compensation you may be able to get for specific injuries.

Liability and Fault in Car Accidents

Since Ontario has a no-fault insurance system, you may assume that liability doesn’t play a role in your claim because you can turn to your insurance company for benefits. However, in many cases, car accidents are caused by liable parties, and if this is the case in your situation, you may be eligible for additional compensation.

While we refer to car collisions as “accidents,” in many cases, someone or something is at fault. These parties who are responsible for causing the accident and your injuries are said to be liable or legally responsible for the accident and injuries. For example, if your car accident happened because someone was weaving all over the road and speeding, that driver is liable, and you can file a claim against them or their insurance company to cover your property damage, pain and suffering, loss of income, and other costs if you’re injured.

There could be multiple liable parties in your car accident claim, including:

• Other drivers and other users of the road.
• Municipalities, if they failed to maintain street signs and roads in a safe manner.
• The manufacturer of a defective car or car part that caused your crash.

Finding all liable parties in your case is important because it allows you to seek fair compensation so you don’t end up paying for the costs of your accident out of your own savings. Working with a Burlington car accident lawyer is important to find all liable parties because, in many cases, the cause of an accident may not be clear. For example, you may not know whether a faulty car part contributed to your injuries without a thorough investigation. Your lawyer has the resources to carefully investigate your accident to find all responsible parties.

Filing Deadline for Car Accident Lawsuits

In most cases, in Ontario, you have two years to file a lawsuit in a car accident case. However, you may need to inform the defendant you plan to sue before you file — and the deadlines for this notice period are much shorter. If you’re suing a municipality for dangerous road conditions that caused your crash, for example, you may have just ten days to let them know you plan to sue.

Waiting can harm your case. Not only could you miss critical deadlines, but waiting also gives defendants ammunition to use against you. In court, defendants can claim that they waited to file a claim because they weren’t very seriously injured. They may question a witness’ memories if you waited to get witness statements. Some evidence may go missing quickly, too, if you decide to wait.

For all these reasons, contact a car accident lawyer in Burlington or your city as soon as possible after your accident. Your lawyer can explain the deadlines that apply to your case and can make sure you don’t miss any. Your lawyer can also act quickly to protect evidence and to start building your case.

What to Expect from a Burlington Car Accident Lawyer

When you work with a Burlington car accident lawyer, you will generally first meet with your lawyer in a free consultation. This is a chance to figure out whether your lawyer is a good match. It’s also a chance for you to ask questions and to hear what the lawyer thinks about your case — whether he or she thinks you have a strong claim and what you should do next.

If you decide to work together and file a claim, your lawyer will file the paperwork with the courts and start the discovery process. In the discovery process, all parties involved uncover and share evidence in the case.

During the discovery process, your lawyer will likely start to seek a settlement. A settlement is an agreement where a defendant or insurance company agrees to pay you a certain amount, and you both get to walk away. The case doesn’t proceed to court, saving you time and allowing you to get fair compensation for your injuries.

Your lawyer will continue to try to reach a fair settlement for you up until the court date, but if one can’t be reached, your case goes to trial, where a judge or jury will determine the outcome of your case. Throughout it all, your lawyer will keep you updated about what is happening with your claim and will advise you about the best way to proceed. Ultimately, however, you will decide whether to accept a settlement offer or continue to trial.

Since personal injury lawyers understand that being injured is financially stressful, many lawyers, including myself, work on a contingency fee basis. This means that you don’t pay upfront costs. You only pay when and if I recover money for you. I’m always transparent about the legal costs and the contingency fee costs, and we can discuss what you can expect in your free consultation before we even start working together.

Once you’re awarded a settlement or court win, your lawyer will take out the contingency fee costs and the disbursements plus HST from the proceeds of the settlement. The rest is yours to keep.

This entire process can take less than a year or several years.

Car Accident in Burlington? Contact Us for a Free Consultation

I founded Derek Wilson Injury and Disability Law to help people who’ve been injured in car accidents in Burlington, Hamilton, and surrounding areas. If you’ve been in a car accident and are wondering how you’ll pay the bills, how much your case could be worth, and what you should do next, contact me for a free consultation.

I have more than 30 years of trial and negotiation experience, and I’m the one who will be working on your case, so you don’t have to worry about your case being passed along to someone else. I also handle disability claims, so if, like many people, you’re applying for short-term or long-term disability because you can’t work after your car accident, I can help you if you run into problems getting your rightful benefits.