In personal injury cases that involve minors, the statute of limitations goes up to 2 years after his or her 18th birthday. The reason for this exception is that by the time a minor has reached the age of 20, the court expects him/her to be mature enough to take a call on whether they should pursue the claim or not.

Expected Timeframe for a Personal Injury Claim

It’s important to know that even if you do seek a personal injury lawyer at the earliest, it invariably does take a bit of time for your claim to go through. Why?

This is because there are several steps in the entire process, which we need to follow to successfully file a claim.

The 4 most integral steps in filing a personal injury claim in Ontario are:

Filing the Statement of Claim with the Court Office

Your personal injury lawyer initiates the lawsuit by filing the claim statement and thereafter serving it to the defendant.

Notifying the Defendant

In most personal injury cases, the defendant tends to be the insurance provider of the party you intend to sue. More often that not, the insurance company will attempt a direct negotiation with you in the hope that you’re amenable to settling the claim out of court. This is because there is a significant chance that your personal injury lawyer can get you a much higher compensation through a court proceeding than he can from an out-of-court settlement.

Mediation

Within the jurisdiction of the Ontario Province, your personal injury lawyer and the defendant can mutually reach a settlement compensation that is acceptable to both parties and avoid going to court.

Pre-Trial

At this juncture in your personal injury claim case, the judge convenes with your personal injury lawyer and the defendant’s legal representatives to offer his opinion on the case. Depending on the judge’s feedback, your personal injury lawyer recommends whether you pursue the case further or you accept the defendant’s offer. Several personal injury cases are settled during the pre-trial meeting itself.

Typically, the steps detailed above, take place alongside various other activities such as scheduling meetings, conflicts, evidence collection, etc.

A realistic estimation of the timeline by which a personal injury case can be settled is at the very least 5-6 months. However, this could take longer depending on the circumstances.

Areas our professional team serves for Personal Injury Cases? Ontario-wide, contact us today to see how we can be of help.