Red Deer, AB Personal Injury Lawyer

If you’ve been injured in an accident or as a result of someone else’s negligence, then you may be eligible to recover monetary damages. Our team of personal injury lawyers can help you get compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and long term care. We can also help you get compensation for your pain and suffering.

With a personal injury lawyer from losMerchant Law, you will never be alone as you face down negligent parties and their insurance companies. We help you get the support you deserve as you work to heal and rebuild your life. 

Most personal injury cases involve car and motorcycle accidents. Red Deer motorists often find themselves facing unpleasant hurdles when they get into an accident. Not only must they try to get better from their injuries which involves finding appropriate medical treatment providers as well as suffer issues with missed employment, but also now have to worry about the actual compensation claim against the at fault driver’s insurance company.

Unfortunately, the insurance company adjusters are not there to tell you what you might be actually entitled to receive by law, instead they try to get away with paying out as little as possible. We have what’s known as an adversarial court system in Canada, which means that you need to have a good lawyer preparing your case and getting you the full amount you are entitled to get by law.  

You don’t have to deal with the insurance companies alone—and you shouldn’t. Every time the adjuster speaks to you they’re trying to work against you. They’re trying to make you say or sign things that can weaken or destroy your case. Meanwhile, you’re relying on that money. Medicare doesn’t cover all medical expenses, and you may be missing work as you attempt to recover from your injuries. You may have future loss of earning capacity. An injury from a car or motorcycle accident can have long term and far reaching impacts on your quality of life and enjoyment of life. No one want to live in pain, and the Alberta courts and its judges will order insurance companies to pay out in full. The best Red Deer personal injury lawyers all know this and will take cases all the way to court to get justice for their injured clients.

Merchant Law is here to help.

 

How Can a Red Deer Personal Injury Lawyer Help?

We take on every injury and motor vehicle case in and around Red Deer, AB, such as:

• Car Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Truck accidents
• Car accident victims of drunk drivers
• Hit and run accidents / Unidentified motorists
• Car accidents with bicyclists
• Car accidents with pedestrians
• Car accidents with skateboarders
• Slip and fall injuries
• Accidents caused by debris or city negligence
• Accidents caused by highway construction or negligence
• SUV and ATV rollovers
• Snowmobile / Skidoo accidents

 

Common Car Accident Injuries

Provincial government statistics show that across Alberta there were unfortunately 17,467 fatal and injury accidents in the year 2017 which is the last year of available published records. The statistics for 2016 and 2015 were almost the same. As the population continues to grow, it is expected the number will continue to rise.  Unfortunately Red Deer sees its fair share of these accidents on its roads and highways with shocking regularity.

Our Red Deer car accident lawyers help the victims of accidents to recover the compensation which they are appropriately entitled to receive. The negligent action of the other driver who is at fault for causing the accident carries insurance and the law requires that the victim be properly compensated for all physical, psychological, and economic losses that result.

Until you have been in an accident it can be hard to put yourself in that injured person’s shoes. Although some car accidents luckily result in only minor injury, there are far too many that result in very serious, life altering, and catastrophic injuries. The pain and suffering inflicted in these cases is immense. If you have been in a bad car accident call us so that we can help you fight for the compensation you deserve and are entitled to receive by law.

 

OUR LAWYERS HAVE FOUGHT FOR OUR CLIENTS AND ROUTINELY HANDLE cases involving : 

 

• Traumatic brain injuries / Concussions
• Permanent disability
• Neck and back injury
• Broken bones and fractures
• Spinal cord injuries
• Cuts and lacerations
• Nerve damage
• Herniated Discs
• Scars and disfigurement
• Joints and ligaments injury
• “Whiplash” or soft tissue injury
• Fatalities and Wrongful Death

Non-physical injuries are also compensable by law. You may have severe emotional distress, nightmares, depression, which can all be linked to both the frightening accident which was not your fault as well as dealing with the physical injuries and pain they are causing. Some go so far as to be diagnosed with known psychological conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”). We can help get you to the right experts for your physical and psychological suffering to achieve the utmost amount of compensation according to Alberta law.

 

Economic loss is also an important factor to consider. Such as losing time from work. For the more catastrophic injuries you may not be able to return to the same job and your future earnings capacity may also be imperilled. Economic experts can show loss of past and future income and income earning capacity. Let our capable and experienced Red Deer injury law team get to work on your case, we are ready to help you recover appropriate compensation for all of your suffering and losses after a car or motorcycle accident.

 

GET COMPENSATION FOR YOUR INJURIES

When someone else’s negligence gets you injured in an accident, the insurance companeis involved, both your own (under Section B and Section C) as well as the insurer of the negligent driver who caused the accident are togeether supposed to cover all the costs. These include:

• The cost to repair or replace your damaged vehicle.
• Dental care and reconstruction costs.
• Long-term rehabilitation services such as chiropractic, massage, or physiotherapy treatments.
• Psychological counselling.
• Housekeeping costs and lost enjoyment of life.
• Lost wages and lost future earning capacity.

 

WHAT IS THE AVERAGE PAYOUT FOR A PERSONAL INJURY IN ALBERTA?

An “average payout” is almost a useless number. The payout you’re likely to receive depends on the specific facts of your case and the extent of your injuries. 

You can claim the actual economic damages up to their actual value. That is, if you incurred $78,000 in medical bills, then you can claim $78,000. If you lost wages for 3 months as a result of the accident you can claim all three months of wages. If you can never work again there are ways to calculate your projected future earnings and those can be paid out as well. The future cost of care can also be calculated. You can also claim pain and suffering damages. 

Keep in mind that Alberta is a comparative negligence province. This means you may be assigned a “percentage of fault.” Your award would then be reduced by that percentage. You need an excellent personal injury lawyer to help you ensure your percentage of fault is ultimately as low as possible.

 

IS MY ALBERTA PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM CAPPED? 

Pain and suffering is capped in Alberta if it doesn’t result in lasting impairment. If you have soft tissue damages without lasting impairment, they’re capped in Alberta at $5,296 (as of 2020).

That said your lawyer can often get your case considered outside the soft tissue injuries cap, if we can demonstrate with appropriate evidence that your injuries have resulted in “serious impairment.” If so this takes you outside the cap completely so that you can advance a full case for full compensation.

For example you may have more severe injuries which can result in permanent damage or a permanent disability or impairment. Fractures would certainly take you outside the cap, but also things like ongoing psychological harms as a result of the accident, mental upset, anguish, nightmares, difficulty with family relationships, et cetera, all of this should not be subject to the Alberta cap on soft tissue injuries.

The best Alberta injury lawyers gather the required evidence and use their advocacy skills to try to always push cases outside of the cap, even where the insurance companies want to say they are definitely capped.

Economic damages are not capped. You can be compensated to the full extent of the expenses incurred as you grappled with the damage. So even if you have a “capped claim” for non-pecuniary damages, you still want a good injury lawyer to make sure you are not leaving money on the table when you settle. Speak to a lawyer to go over these issues.

The best injury lawyers in Red Deer will work hard to get your case considered outside of this cap. You can in fact recover up to $370,000 (the max. for non pecuniary damages across Canada) to compensate you for pain and suffering for the most severe kinds of injuries, although most awards will be lower as this obviously is the maximum amount reserved for the most severe of cases. Examples here might include a case of paraplegia, quadriplegia, or a closed head or brain injury case. Our Red Deer personal injury lawyers have taken all kinds of cases from the least to the most impactful.

In addition to your pain and suffering damages award, you can recover for loss of income both for the past and the future loss of income earning capacity which the best Red Deer personal injury lawyers all will know how to prove and claim for you.

Speak to a lawyer about your ability to get your current lost wages paid. You may be entitled to immediate weekly payments even before your case has settled. Again insurance adjusters are highly unlikely to help you to know what you may or may not be entitled to receive. Don’t let the insurance companies starve you out.  You should be looking for the best injury lawyers in Red Deer to help you maximize your claim. This will only happen if you get a tough lawyer with the skill and ability to manoeuvre the insurance company into paying out its obligations in full. 

 

how to STRENGTHEN YOUR Red deer injury CLAIM

Strengthening your Red Deer personal injury claim starts at the scene of the accident. If you can avoid making any major mistakes, you’ll help your lawyer immensely.

 

MISTAKE #1 – FAILING TO GATHER INFORMATION

You need to get the names, addresses, and phone numbers for the other driver and for all witnesses. You’ll also need the other driver’s insurance information. You’ll want to call the police, and you’ll want a copy of the police report. Take photos if you can.

Of course, there’s a chance you were too hurt during the initial accident to gather any information. If you were, all is not lost. The team at Merchant Law has worked around this limitation hundreds of times.

MISTAKE #2 – INCRIMINATING YOURSELF

Fault matters in car and motorcycle accident cases. You’ll want to avoid apologizing or saying things which seem to indicate you take responsibility for the accident. 

Imagine everything you say will be used against you, and act accordingly. There is no need to volunteer any information either. If you say something like, “I wasn’t looking,” or “I was playing with the radio,” or “my child distracted me,” or “I didn’t sleep well last night”, saying these things could end up causing you to be held ultimately liable for the accident in whole or in part, which otherwise you would not have been, but for the needlessly volunteered statements.

If you need to tell the police how the accident happened, which you may, the best Red Deer injury lawyers will always recommend that you limit any statement you give to where the cars were positioned, as opposed to volunteering needless extra information (which can be used against you later) such as what you were thinking, feeling, or doing at the time.

MISTAKE #3 – FAILING TO GET MEDICAL CARE

There are often two injury extremes in a car accident. On one extreme you have the aforementioned victim who is too hurt to so much as snap a photo. On the other you have the person who feels fine after the accident, but who starts seeing symptoms days later.

It’s very important you take all medical care that’s offered and follow all instructions even if you feel fine. You might wake up in excruciating pain three or four days after the accident. If so, you don’t want to destroy your chances of recovering funds for that injury. Failing to obtain medical care makes you look opportunistic.

There is also the legal requirement to mitigate one’s losses. So it is a double edged sword. By working with your injury lawyer to get into physio, chiro, massage, or whatever else may be advisable you both prove you were injured and that you have taken steps to mitigate your losses by actively seeking out appropriate treatment to heal and get better. Again, the best Red Deer personal injury lawyers will be alive to all these issues and help you to navigate the claim properly.

MISTAKE #4 – FAILING TO CALL A PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER RIGHT AWAY

You should take this step as soon as you’ve recovered enough from your injuries to make the call. It’s risk-free to you to do so since personal injury lawyers work on contingency. That means we don’t get paid unless you get paid.

 

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE A GOOD PERSONAL INJURY CASE?

The strength of your personal injury case isn’t something you should make guesses about. Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can get a free consultation from Merchant Law. 

We work on contingency, which means you don’t pay unless your case is successful. That means you don’t have to worry about coming up with a retainer or hourly fees. You don’t have to worry about anything except healing while we fight for you. 

If the case isn’t strong enough to succeed, we’ll let you know that too. 

 

WHY MERCHANT LAW? 

We have offices across Alberta, which makes us uniquely equipped to handle every insurance company who might be involved in your case, including supplemental insurance companies and the Alberta driver’s policy. We’re some of the most experienced personal injury lawyers in Alberta. Our decades in the trenches means we have what it takes to negotiate a highly successful settlement on your behalf, or fight the matter out in litigation. 

The best injury lawyers in Red Deer know that taking cases to trial keeps the insurance companies honest. We aren’t afraid to take cases to trial and the insurance companies know this fact about us very well. They know from our reputation Merchant Law do not back down, we bring the fight forward until we get justice for our injured clients. We’re a team with a proven track record of getting results. Call (403) 237-7777 today to speak directly to a lawyer right away. We’ll answer all of your questions and will discuss your next steps.

If you want justice for your accident, call 403.237.7777 or visit our office at:

3rd Floor – 4915 54 Street, Red Deer AB, T4N 2G7