Ottawa Accident Lawyers - Accidents and Injuries - Legal Principles - Negligence and Insurance Coverage

Ottawa Accident Lawyers - Accidents and Injuries - Legal Principles - Negligence and Insurance Coverage

In personal injury law, there are a variety of legal principles available to attract negligence onto others. The three main categories of principles used on personal injury law are: general negligence (car accidents, slip and falls, trip and falls), intentional torts (assault and battery) and strict liability torts (nuisances, dog bites and animal attacks). This brief article deals with the principles of “negligence” in the personal injury context.

For the most part, personal injury court actions and claims are based on the principles of negligence. In the normal course of life, individuals, governments and businesses make mistakes and errors which can amount to negligence. In most cases, negligence causes others to suffer injuries which cause losses, damages and pain and suffering which should be compensated. Generally, the persons responsible for the accident (those who were negligent) have liability insurance which covers the losses caused by the acts and omissions of negligence. The types of insurance include general liability policies, commercial liability policies, municipal liability insurance, homeowner’s liability policies, tenant’s liability policies and so on which all cover losses associated with different types of accidents.

In cases where the acts were intentional, such as a battery or assault, insurance does not usually cover the losses associated with the intentional acts. In cases of strict liability such as a dog bite or a nuisance, care must be taken to review the policies of insurance available as not all policies cover damages ad losses caused by strict liability torts.

In negligence claims, the allegations centre around the relationship between the parties. When one party owes a duty to another to take reasonable care to protect the safety of another party and then breaches that duty, they can be held liable for any losses and damages suffered as a consequence of the breach. By way of example, imagine you own a property and you are aware that different persons attend on your property from time to time (mail person, friends, family etc...); you are aware of ice accumulating on your drive way and walk way; you take no steps to remove the ice; someone attends on your property, falls and is injured. As a consequence, under those facts, you would very likely be held liable and will have to pay damages to the injured person. By way of analysis of that fact scenario, the duty is to keep the property reasonably safe, the standard to be applied is to take reasonable steps to remove the ice, failing to do so is the breach of the duty owed and since the injury was caused by the direct breach of the duty owed, liability follows.

There are different defences available when allegations of negligence are made. A review of those defences will be the subject of my next brief article.

Marc-Nicholas Quinn is a partner at the law firm Plant Quinn Thiele Mineault Gridzki PC and founder of the Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyer Network. He is a personal injury lawyer and mediator. He lectures regularly at local educational institutions. He is a member of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) and the Advocate’s Society. For a free consultation, contact us at 613-315-4878 or 613-315-HURT. No Fee Until You Win retainer agreements.