In British Columbia, personal injury law protects those who have suffered physical or psychological harm due to the actions, inactions, or negligence of others. Understanding how to define personal injury law is crucial, as you may be entitled to compensation for your pain, distress, and financial losses. Following an incident, valid personal injury claims must be processed within a limited time period. Knowing your rights can help you better navigate the legal process and secure justice and compensation.
What Is Personal Injury Law?
British Columbia law allows victims of wrongful acts, called torts, to make claims against another individual or an organization that caused the wrongdoing. Torts can be both intentional and unintentional. An intentional tort would include any situation where physical or emotional harm was purposely inflicted on the victim, whereas an unintentional tort occurs when a victim is injured accidentally. Personal injury cases are normally a result of these unintentional, negligent situations.
For example, say you’re walking through a park when an unleashed dog suddenly runs up to you and bites your leg. Because the owner didn’t have their dog on a leash and ultimately failed to control their dog, your injuries would warrant a personal injury claim. However, if you were walking in a park texting, stepped on a leashed dog’s tail, and were bitten by the dog, you may not have a valid personal injury claim since you were negligent about where you were walking.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
Personal injury is a broad legal domain involving a wide range of incidents, including:
- Automobile accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Bus accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Boat accidents
- Dangerous premises accidents
- Defective product accidents
- Dog bite accidents
- Wrongful death
Elements of Personal Injury Cases
There are four essential factors in a personal injury case: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. Let’s use our dog bite example to explore each of these elements.
Duty of Care
This is the legal responsibility to exercise reasonable care and precautions to prevent harm to others. In our example, the dog owner has the duty of care to leash their dog and try to control its behavior.
Breach of Duty
This is the failure to uphold the duty of care, whether intentional or unintentional. The dog owner breached their duty of care by not leashing or making reasonable efforts to control the dog.
Causation
This is the clear link between the breach of duty of care and the injuries sustained by the victim. The victim in this example has serious leg injuries because of the dog owner’s failure to leash their dog.
Damages
These are the physical, psychological, and financial losses incurred by the victim due to the incident that caused their injuries. Medical costs, loss of wages, and long-term fear of dogs all factor into damages.
Purpose of Compensation in Personal Injury Cases
Any kind of injury, whether physical or mental, can take a significant toll on a victim and their family. The road to recovery can be long and expensive, leaving the victim unable to work and earn wages as they did before. Personal injury cases seek financial compensation to recoup losses, such as lost wages and costs for medical treatment not covered by provincial plans as well as compensation for pain and suffering..
How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim?
If you believe you have a personal injury case, you have two years from the time of the injury or the time when you knew about the injury to submit your civil claim. It’s crucial you contact a lawyer following your injury. Personal injury lawyers like Stephans & Holman can review your case, help you gather evidence, and fight for fair compensation. Reach out today for your free consultation.