Pain and Suffering Compensation in Ontario

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When an accident victim meets with a Toronto lawyer to talk about filing a claim for compensation, a topic that must be touched upon is the difference between pain and suffering awards in the U.S. and Canada. News stories about multimillion dollar awards for pain and suffering in the U.S. simply do not happen in Canada. Actually, to be more accurate, they cannot happen because of a series of court decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada that have come to be known collectively as “the trilogy.”

Tort law and compensating victims

A tort is a wrongful act or the failure to act resulting in injury to another person. If the injured party can prove the act or omission was the result of negligence, courts can award compensation in an effort to make the victim whole again. Common sources for tort claims include the following:

  • Car and truck accidents
  • Defective products
  • Premises liability, such as slip and fall, dog bites and failure to provide security
  • Professional malpractice

Most of the compensation awarded to a victim is in the nature of compensatory damages. Compensatory damages, as the term implies, are awarded to make the victim whole. This is accomplished by placing a dollar value on the injuries. This is relatively easy when awarding compensation for such things as:

  • Medical expenses
  • Damage to property
  • Lost salary or wages
  • Costs associated with hiring a housekeeper to help while recovering

A victim could also be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering. Unlike other forms of damages, pain and suffering can be difficult to quantify.

Cap on pain and suffering: The trilogy

How to handle requests for compensation for the physical and emotional pain and suffering endured by an accident victim made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1978 in three cases challenging the amount of compensation an injured person could receive. The court ruling in the cases established a cap on pain and suffering compensation. The $100,000 cap set in 1978 is reviewed each year and adjusted based on the rate of inflation. It is now approximately $366,000.

The cap applies only to pain and suffering because of what the court in 1978 referred to as the lack of an “objective yardstick” by which the amount of compensation can be calculated. The court did not, however, extend the cap of compensation to a victim for the cost of future care or lost future earnings due to the severity of the injuries the individual suffered.

Ontario monetary threshold and pain and suffering awards

If someone’s injuries were caused by a motor vehicle accident in Ontario, there is a legal threshold that must be met to avoid the effect of a deductible on pain and suffering awards. For example, awards for pain and suffering must exceed $124,616.21, the threshold for 2017, to avoid being subject to a deductible of $37,385.17. If, for example, a court awards an accident victim $100,000 as compensation for pain and suffering, it will be reduced by the deductible leaving the victim with $62,614.83.

A personal injury lawyer can help

The outstanding personal injury lawyers at Diamond and Diamond have years of experience handling all types of tort claims involving serious and disabling injuries. Their knowledge of the laws throughout Canada controlling the conditions under which courts may award pain and suffering compensation is put to use to obtain the best possible award for the people they represent. Call our 24/7 injury hotline at 1-800-567-HURT or visit our website to speak to someone now about your claim. Consultations are free, and we have offices located throughout Ontario.