Do I Need a Car Accident Lawyer?

This video features Steve Grover, a Personal Injury attorney based in Alberta, Canada.

Calgary Car Crash Lawyer Explains What to Do

Video Transcript:

Steve Grover: 

If you're involved in an accident, in a car accident and you're unfortunately injured, my advice honestly is talk to a lawyer.

Molly Hendrickson: 

How do you know if you should talk to a lawyer after you've been in a car crash? We're gonna talk to Steve Grover about that on today's Ask The Lawyer. Steve, thanks for joining us today.

Steve Grover: 

Hi. And thanks for having me today.

Molly Hendrickson: 

So after you're involved in a car accident, how do you know when you need to speak to a lawyer versus just handling the insurance claim yourself?

Steve Grover: 

Well, if you're involved in an accident, in a car accident and you're unfortunately injured, my advice honestly is talk to a lawyer. If you suffer some injuries, if you had some loss of income and you have to go for treatment, you should know what your legal rights are, if you wanna make a claim for compensation against the other driver or the other insurance company who caused the injuries. So to be upfront, dealing with these cases for over 20 years, I think there's no charge for a person who's injured in an accident to consult with my office. We work on a contingency fee. And if you don't like what you hear, you can always deal with it yourself. But I recommend anyone who's involved in accident, so you protect your legal rights, that you consult with a lawyer.

Molly Hendrickson: 

So if you're involved in a car accident where somebody is injured after you make sure that everybody gets medical attention, what are the next steps? Should you reach out to your insurance company? What about the other person's insurance company?

Steve Grover: 

Yeah, I would recommend after you sought out medical attention for the injuries you suffered in the car accident, you should reach out to your insurance company. You do have a contract with your insurance company, your auto insurance company. Notify them of any claim. So I strongly recommend anyone that's injured in an accident, reach out to your insurance company so they know about the claim, they can open a file, make sure you're not at fault for the accident. And dealing with the other insurance company, you don't really have to reach out to them. I would not recommend reaching out to them. Obviously they're there for their own interest, trying to gather information against you on your injury case to you use you against the claim.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Can you talk a little bit about the Minor Injury Cap? Explain when this applies.

Steve Grover: Yeah, unfortunately, on October 1st, 2003 in the province of Alberta, the Minor Injury Cap came into place. And essentially, if you suffer a mild whiplash claim that recovers within 90 days, you are capped in your injuries at $4000. Now, with inflationary update every year, it's about $5900. And that's it in a nutshell. Unfortunately, the Minor Injury Regulation did take legal rights away from injured parties in a car accident here in Alberta. But there are legal steps you can still take in the courthouse to protect your legal rights on an injury claim.

Molly Hendrickson: 

So a common car accident injury is whiplash-associated disorders. When does this exceed the threshold of the Minor Injury Cap?

Steve Grover: 

Well, a whiplash-associated disorder is just a term of knowledge that was developed. Essentially, it's kind of any kind of whiplash injury you have to your neck, your shoulders, your back. Unfortunately, if your injuries resolve within 90 days, you're stuck at the Cap amount of $4000 back in 2003 or $5900 now in 2022. But essentially, if your injuries go beyond the Cap period of 90, you can argue that your injuries are not capped and outside the Minor Injury Regulations. But a whiplash-associated disorder essentially just deals with neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain.

Molly Hendrickson: 

For somebody who might have whiplash or another serious injury, what can a lawyer get for them that maybe they might have a hard time getting themselves?

Steve Grover: 

Well, unfortunately, the insurance companies will say, "Listen, no matter how bad your injuries are, they're capped." And they'll just offer you for $4000 or $5000 according to the year of the accident of what the claim is worth based on inflationary update since 2003. But a lawyer knows the law. Fortunately for injured parties here in Alberta, there has been case law that has developed. And the case law now since 2003 is that, "Hey, if you have a chronic pain injury, you're outside the Cap. If you have a psychological injury like post-traumatic syndrome, you're outside the Cap. If you do have a TMJ injury, like an injury to your jaw that requires treatment, splints, care every night, you're outside the Cap." So a lawyer... The law has developed fortunately for injured victims in Alberta from car accidents. And we know the law. So we can present the case to the courthouse and saying, "Hey, listen, not every case is capped in Alberta. And look at this person. And they have chronic pain for three years. And therefore, they should not be subject to the Minor Injury Regulations."

Molly Hendrickson: 

Steve, always good to see you. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today.

Steve Grover: 

Thank you for taking the time to ask the questions. Have a great day.

Molly Hendrickson: 

And that's gonna do it for this episode of Ask The Lawyer. My guest has been Steve Grover. If you wanna ask Steve about your situation, you can call the number on the screen. Thanks for watching. I'm Molly Hendrickson for Ask The Lawyers.

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