Injured by Someone Else’s Negligence? What Compensation Can You Recover?

Whenever a person behaves negligently or breaches a duty of care and causes someone else’s injury, the injured person may seek compensation with a personal injury lawsuit. In Nova Scotia, an injured victim of negligence should contact a Halifax personal injury lawyer immediately.

Personal injury cases are the civil proceedings that determine liability for accidents and frequently compensate victims who file personal injury claims based on traffic accidents, premises liability, or incidents of medical malpractice.

If you are injured in Nova Scotia because a driver was distracted, a property owner was careless, or a doctor or healthcare facility was negligent, you are entitled by law to compensation for your lost income, your medical expenses, and your other injury-related losses and damages.

What is Your Recourse as an Injured Victim of Negligence?

If you’re injured by someone else’s negligence, you may seek compensation for your economic losses. A Nova Scotia personal injury lawyer will determine if you can be compensated for financial losses (such as medical bills and lost wages) that are a direct result of your injuries.

Additionally, in many cases, personal injury victims may also seek financial compensation for “non-economic” damages (also called “general” damages) such as personal pain and suffering. Non-economic damages compensate a victim for the effect of an injury on his or her life.

Non-economic damages are not quantifiable with receipts and medical bills, but many injury victims encounter pain whenever they perform simple physical activities that most of us take for granted. A severe injury may make a victim unable to enjoy his or her favorite activities.

How Are Non-Economic Damage Amounts Determined?

Determining compensation for physical pain or emotional distress requires a detailed consideration of the nature of the injury, the past treatment received and the future treatment required, as well as a thorough knowledge of the impact of the injury on the victim’s lifestyle, relationships, employment, and more.

It can be a challenge to attach a particular amount of money to someone’s personal pain and suffering, but Nova Scotia’s courts assess compensation for personal injuries all the time and personal injury lawyers study court decisions and find patterns that are then used in assessing similar cases. This approach is widely accepted by courts, lawyers, and insurance companies.

Compiling and preparing evidence that confirms your claim remains essential to obtaining the maximum financial recovery. Your lawyer may seek statements or testimony from your doctor, family members, or co-workers. In some cases, expert witnesses may be needed.

Motor Vehicle Minor Injury Cap on Non-Economic Damages?

In Nova Scotia, depending on how seriously you were injured, your general or non-economic damages arising from a motor vehicle accident may be subject to a payment cap. If your injury meets the definition of a “minor” injury, the total amount of compensation you may recover for non-economic or general damages for pain and suffering will be limited.

The motor vehicle minor injury cap in Nova Scotia applies to strains, sprains, and whiplash levels one and two – but not level three or four, which constitute what the law defines as serious impairment. Basic stiffness, tenderness, neck pain, and a decreased range of motion are considered minor injuries.

The minor injury cap restricts the amount of non-economic damages that may be claimed for pain, suffering, and the loss of activities as a result of minor injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. The cap is annually adjusted for inflation. As of 2024, the minor injury cap is $10,402.

The cap does not apply to minor injuries sustained in other incidents not involving a motor vehicle.

What Injuries Are Considered Major and Minor?

To determine whether an injured victim of motor vehicle negligence has sustained an injury that may be considered minor, these questions must be answered:

  1.  Did the injury result in permanent and serious disfigurement?
  2.  Was an important body function permanently and seriously impaired?
  3.  Was the injury substantially healed within a year of the injury date?

Injuries that are almost always automatically considered serious – and are thus exempt from any cap – include but are not limited to blindness, disfigurement, spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, neck fractures, injuries to vital organs, and injuries that require amputation.

There is no cap on the amount of non-economic damages that may be sought when someone has been severely injured by someone else’s negligence. The final compensation amount in these cases is determined (in most cases) by out-of-court settlements or (in some cases) jury verdicts or decisions by judges.

What Else Should Negligence Victims Know About Recovering Compensation?

When you’ve been injured by another person’s negligence, it is essential to be represented by a Halifax personal injury lawyer who will identify all potential compensation sources. If you are injured by a commercial driver, for example, the driver’s employer may have liability.

Automakers or auto parts manufacturers may have liability for traffic collisions caused by defective brakes or other defective auto parts. In cases of medical malpractice, a clinic or hospital may share liability with a physician or another medical professional.

The Limitation of Actions Act sets the legal deadline for bringing personal injury claims in Nova Scotia – when those claims are based on traffic accidents or premises liability – at two years from the date of the injury or the date of the injury’s discovery.

For medical malpractice cases in Nova Scotia, the deadline for taking legal action, with very few exceptions, is two years from the termination date of the medical services or two years from the date you discovered that you were injured by medical negligence.

Injured by Negligence? McKiggan Hebert Will Fight for Your Rights

You don’t have to search far and wide for a Nova Scotia personal injury lawyer who has the experience and knowledge that your case requires. McKiggan Hebert Lawyers has abundant experience representing – and prevailing for – personal injury victims in Halifax and across Nova Scotia.

Now or in the future, if you are the injured victim of another person’s negligence, or if you are not sure whether you have a personal injury claim, reach out to the personal injury team at McKiggan Hebert Lawyers as quickly as possible.

Whether your injuries are major or minor, call our law offices at 902-706-2298 to schedule an in-depth, no-cost evaluation of your injury case with no obligation. McKiggan Hebert Lawyers will fight aggressively and effectively for every dollar of compensation you are entitled to by law.