OUR PROGRAM TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS

If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident on or after October 1, 2004, your claim is subject to new automobile insurance regulations recently implemented by the Alberta government. These new regulations will dramatically reduce the compensation that most automobile accident victims can claim for their injuries. For a detailed description of these regulations and how they may affect you, please click here.

Rodin Law Firm is offering an innovative program to protect your rights in the face of these new regulations. We cannot roll back the clock to a time before October 1, 2004, when compensation in all cases was based upon the principle that accident victims should be fully and fairly compensated. We can, however, protect the rights you do have and ensure that the compensation you receive is as full and complete as is possible under the new regulations.

Our program is based on two pillars. Firstly, we will represent you in connection with your claim for section B benefits as against your own insurer. You will not need to deal with your adjuster. We will deal with your adjuster and with all the requirements that must be met to process your section B claim. We will guide you through the entire claims process and provide advice to you to enable you to make appropriate choices regarding the treatment you receive and the various options you will inevitably be confronted with as a result of the new regulations.

We will not charge you a fee or take a percentage of any benefits that you receive from your section B insurer at the adjusting level. If your adjuster stops paying section B benefits to you, we will advise you as to whether you have a viable claim as against your own insurer for payment of such benefits and will discuss options regarding recovery of such benefits, including a lawsuit. We will also discuss an appropriate fee for our services should you choose to pursue a lawsuit.

The second pillar that forms the foundation of our program relates to ensuring that all appropriate steps are taken to identify all your accident related injuries and maximizing the amount of compensation you receive for all of your injuries. For example, if you sustain a "minor injury" as defined by the Alberta government, two further questions will arise. Firstly, the question of whether you have a "serious impairment" will be fully and appropriately explored. Secondly, the question of whether you have sustained other injuries that do not fit within the definition of "minor injury" will also be fully explored. For example, in addition to your so-called "minor injury", did you also sustain a concurrent depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder, or other psychological injury?

In the final analysis, we believe that the new regulations empower insurance companies at the expense of the vast majority of motor vehicle accident victims. Many motor vehicle accident victims will find dealing with their own insurance adjusters quite difficult and perhaps even distasteful due to the complexity of the regulations and the substantial degree of power that the insurer has over the victim by virtue of a number of factors including the wording of the regulations and the relative degree of experience in personal injury claims that each party brings to the table. We do not think there is any likelihood that dealing with the adjuster for the other driver will be any more appealing.

We continue to offer our services on a contingency fee basis, even in cases that are deemed involve a "minor injury" pursuant to the regulations. Our usual contingency fee rates will apply where the claim is not deemed to be a "minor injury". Our usual rates are 30% of what we recover from the insurer for the at fault driver if the claim is settled with the claims adjuster. If the claim cannot be settled with the claims adjuster and it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit, the contingency fees increases to 35% once examination for discoveries commence.

In cases that are deemed to involve "minor injuries", our contingency fee is 50% of the recovery from the insurer for the at fault driver. We feel that this is appropriate in light of the $4,000.00 cap on damages for pain and suffering in "minor injury" cases, and in light of all the services we provide, as outlined above.

Where there is a deemed "minor injury" as well as other injuries which are not deemed to be minor, the contingency fee is 50% of the recovery made in connection with the "minor injury" and our usual contingency fee, as outlined above, in connection with any recovery made for the "non minor" injuries.

Please call us should you have any questions or concerns regarding our services or fees.