Injured?
You only get one claim. Make it count.

The general limitation period is two years from the day you knew, or ought to have known, that you had a claim. But several shorter notice periods sit in front of it: seven days to notify your own insurer after a motor vehicle accident, ten days’ written notice for a claim against a municipality, and sixty days’ written notice for a fall caused by snow or ice on private property.

The first review is free. Injury files are then taken on a contingency fee basis: our fee is an agreed percentage of what we recover for you, and if we recover nothing, you owe us no fee.

Disbursements — things like medical records, expert reports and court filing fees — and HST may still be payable. Everything is set out in a written contingency fee agreement that you read and sign before any work begins. Ask us and we will walk you through it line by line.

Usually, yes. Ontario apportions fault rather than treating it as all-or-nothing — if you are found partly responsible, your damages are reduced by your share rather than wiped out.

Accident benefits are separate again. They are paid by your own insurer on a no-fault basis, so you may be entitled to them even if the collision was entirely your fault.

No. A denial is the insurer’s position, and it is frequently reversed once the medical evidence is properly assembled and put to them.

Be careful with internal appeals, though. They can take months, and the limitation period on your policy — which is sometimes shorter than two years — may continue to run the whole time. Have the denial letter reviewed before you rely on the appeal process alone.

Most Ontario injury claims resolve without a trial, through negotiation, mediation or a pre-trial conference. That said, a file settles on better terms when it has been prepared as though it will be tried, so that is how we prepare it.

It depends largely on your recovery. Settling before your condition has stabilised risks undervaluing what you will need for the rest of your life, so there is often good reason to wait until the medical picture is clear. Straightforward matters can resolve in months; serious injuries often take longer. We would rather give you an honest range once we have seen your file than a number now.

Your matter is handled at Aviron Law by a lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. If a file ever calls for counsel outside our firm, we will tell you before anything is referred, explain why, and leave the decision to you.

It doesn’t end it, but it does make it harder, and the gap tends to get raised by the other side later. Injuries that seem minor in the first days — soft tissue damage, concussion symptoms — often declare themselves weeks afterwards. Get assessed, describe every symptom, and make sure it goes on the record.