See what Fred and Todd Litwiniuk had to say about some common misconceptions about personal injury law, on CTV Morning Live!
CTV Morning Live: (00:00) All right, Calgary is a driving city, but unfortunately car crashes are common and even more so during the summer months. So, if you do get into a crash, something to consider is should you sue? Fred and Todd Litwiniuk are here to tell us this morning about some of our options. Good morning. Thanks, so much for being here.
Todd and Fred: Thanks for having us.
CTV Morning Live: So, we will start off with those misconceptions. I know one of the first one being, can you afford a lawyer in the first place? And we’ll start with you Todd on that one.
Todd: (00:25) Well we offer free consultations, so at any time you can call us, come on in and see what we have to say and we’ll give you some legal advice. It doesn’t cost you anything upfront and, should you decide to hire us at that time, we don’t get paid until you get paid. So the cost is free until the claim is resolved.
CTV Morning Live : (00:44) Right. And I know too that when people are considering whether or not to sue someone, maybe they’re thinking about, Fred, whether or not, you know, are they a bad person for doing that, the impact maybe they’re having on somebody else’s lives. What would you have to say to that?
Fred: (00:58) A lot of the clients that come to see us do have that feeling. But what I would say is that, you know, typically when you’re injured in an accident, if you’re going to make a claim, you’re making that claim and the people that are going to pay for that are the other person’s insurance company and not the person personally, that’s in most cases. The Alberta government has made liability insurance mandatory, which means it’s illegal to drive a car in this province if you don’t have liability insurance. And the reason that is, is that that’s what liability insurance is for. So if you’ve been injured in an accident and you don’t use the other person’s liability insurance to cover the costs, typically you’re going to be covering those costs personally, you and your family or, in some cases the Alberta taxpayer will cover that cost.
CTV Morning Live: (01:41) And I know too sometimes maybe in regards to the option of suing, but also you could probably make more money if you’re settling with your insurance company. Is that correct?
Todd: (01:49) That’s not always necessarily the case. It’s a good idea to come in and get your free advice and obviously we wouldn’t help you out or take a claim if it wasn’t worth it. So, it’s a matter of discussing that with us. And it’s also more than just discussing how much money you’re going to get. It’s all about taking care of you, taking care of your legal rights, taking care of the paperwork, taken care of, dealing with insurance companies so that you can get yourself better and get back to your family life.
CTV Morning Live: (02:14) And I know too, when it comes to those insurance companies, maybe another misconception would be is that they have your best interests at heart. I know that lots of people deal with this. When it comes to getting involved in a car accident, they might be hesitant to deal with it.
Fred: (02:28) Yeah, I mean if you’re making a claim, typically you’re dealing with somebody else’s insurance company and ,you know, insurance is a business. They’re in it to make money and they’re working for that other person, not for you. And so, you know, if you are dealing with the insurance company directly, that’s not to say that you won’t be treated fairly. In many cases maybe you will be, but why not give us a call and we can tell you for sure and it doesn’t cost anything. It’s easy, quick. And you’ll know for sure.
CTV Morning Live: (02:55) And I guess one of the final misconceptions too is that people are under the impression, that they’ll have to go to court with a situation like this if they do decide to do that.
Todd: (03:03) Most times, and actually the majority of times claims like this do not proceed to court. If that happens. It’s usually that last resort. We’re there to protect you and make sure that, we’re giving you the advice that you need. In most cases these claims can be settled out of court without the need to sue at all.
CTV Morning Live: (03:20) So, we have about 30 seconds left for anybody at home maybe that’s watching this and going through a similar situation like this. What would your advice be to them right now if they’re trying to weigh out the options available to them?
Fred: (03:31) I would say not to worry about it. You can give us a call, you can call an experienced personal injury lawyer, get that free advice and won’t cost you anything and just put those worries to bed so that you can focus on what’s more important.
Speaker 1: (03:45) Well thank you both so much for being here today. Thanks for laying out all these misconceptions for us because I know that these are a lot of questions that people have, and you answered them all very well.
Todd and Fred: Thanks for having us.
CTV Morning Live: You’re welcome. If you’re looking for a little bit more information, you can head online to www.Litwiniuk.com.
