Personal Injury

Alberta generally applies a two year limitation period, running from when you knew, or ought to have known, that you were injured and that a claim against a particular party was warranted. Miss it and the claim is usually lost no matter how strong it was. Shorter notice deadlines can apply, particularly for claims involving a municipality or the province, and different rules apply to minors. Get advice early rather than close to the deadline.

Section B benefits are the no fault accident benefits built into Alberta auto insurance policies. They cover reasonable medical and rehabilitation treatment and can include limited disability payments, and they are generally available through your own insurer regardless of who caused the collision. They are separate from any claim against the at fault driver. Notice and application deadlines apply, so report the collision and start the paperwork promptly to avoid losing access to treatment funding.

Alberta limits the amount recoverable for pain and suffering where an injury falls within the legal definition of a minor injury, which generally covers certain sprains, strains, and whiplash injuries that do not cause serious lasting impairment. The cap amount is adjusted annually. It applies only to general damages, not to income loss, treatment costs, or future care. Whether an injury falls inside or outside the cap is a medical and legal question worth taking seriously.

You have obligations to your own insurer and should cooperate with them. You are generally under no obligation to give a recorded statement to the adjuster for the other side, and doing so early, before your injuries have been properly assessed, can create problems later. Adjusters are not neutral and are not there to protect your interests. Get legal advice before giving a statement or signing anything, including broad authorizations for your medical records.

Yes. Soft tissue injuries and concussions often show up hours or days later, and adrenaline masks pain at the scene. Seeing a physician promptly protects your health and creates the contemporaneous record that any claim depends on. Gaps between the collision and treatment are among the most common arguments insurers raise. Follow through on recommended treatment and tell your providers about every symptom, not only the one that bothers you most.

The strongest claims rest on documentation: medical and physiotherapy records, imaging, prescriptions, and specialist reports, plus proof of income loss such as pay records or business statements, receipts for out of pocket expenses, and mileage to appointments. Photographs of the scene, the vehicle damage, and visible injuries help, as do the names of any witnesses. A simple journal noting pain levels and activities you can no longer do is often more persuasive than memory months later.

Most claims take a year or more, and serious injuries take longer. Much of that time is medical rather than legal, because settling before your condition has stabilized risks undervaluing future treatment and income loss. Claims resolved through negotiation move faster than those requiring litigation and a trial date. We can give you a realistic range once your treatment picture is clearer, and you are never obliged to accept an early offer.

Under a contingency agreement, legal fees are a percentage of what is recovered and are payable only if the claim succeeds, so there is no hourly billing along the way. Disbursements, such as medical reports and filing fees, are still incurred as the claim proceeds and are accounted for out of the recovery. The percentage and the treatment of expenses are set out in a written agreement that we review with you before you sign it.

You may still have a claim. Alberta applies contributory negligence, meaning fault can be divided between the parties and your damages are reduced by your share rather than eliminated. Being found twenty five percent responsible, for example, generally means recovering seventy five percent of your damages. Insurers often assert more fault than the evidence supports, which is why early investigation and preserving the evidence matter so much.

There are still avenues. Alberta policies commonly include coverage that responds when the at fault driver is uninsured or unidentified, and a provincial fund can apply in certain situations. These claims carry their own notice requirements and proof obligations, and reporting the incident to police promptly is usually essential. If you were struck by an uninsured or hit and run driver, get advice quickly so that nothing is missed.