Personal Injury
Injury claims are actions in Tort.
A tort is a private or civil wrong. A violation of a duty imposed by general law or otherwise upon all persons in relation to each other. There must be a violation of some duty owing to the Plaintiff.
For Plaintiffs (injured party) to pursue a claim against another party for personal injuries or damages in Alberta and most of the Western world, the person they are claiming against must be at fault (negligent). This means, if you are the at fault driver, you cannot make a claim against the other party and you are restricted to certain no fault benefits.
For the injured Party (Plaintiff) to be successful, the other party (Tort-feasor) has to be negligent. Negligence means either an omission to do something, or doing something which a reasonable and prudent person would not do, i.e., speeding, going through a stop sign, making an unsafe left turn. Generally, when a person in negligent in a motor vehicle accident, he or she is the at fault party – in some cases both the Plaintiff and the other party may both be negligent in which case liability fault) may be divided between the two parties at some percentage, based on the degree of the negligence of each party.
Proving a case for negligence can potentially entitle the injured person to compensation for harm to their body, property, mental well-being and financial status.