General Damages for Spinal Cord Injuries

General damages for spinal cord injuries are the clearest case of a cap having a real effect. Paralysis is the injury the Supreme Court of Canada had in front of it when it capped pain and suffering awards. These claims are near the top of the range and stay there. This chapter states what the cap covers and what it leaves untouched, and the series index is the general damages guide.

The Level and Completeness of the Injury Set the Function

A complete injury severs function below the level of damage. An incomplete injury leaves some sensation or movement. The higher the level on the cord, the more is lost: a cervical injury can take hand function and, at the highest levels, independent breathing, while a lower thoracic or lumbar injury leaves the arms working. Bladder, bowel and sexual function are affected at almost every level and are part of what the award compensates, even though people are reluctant to give evidence about them.

General Damages for Spinal Cord Injuries Reach the Cap

In 1978 the Supreme Court of Canada set an upper limit of $100,000 on general damages in the trilogy led by Andrews v Grand and Toy Alberta Ltd, a case about a young man rendered quadriplegic. The limit has been indexed to inflation since. A serious spinal cord injury is what the ceiling was built to measure, and awards in these cases run at or close to the indexed maximum. The decisions are on CanLII.

The Cap Does Not Limit the Rest of the Claim

This is the point most often misunderstood. The cap applies only to general damages. Attendant care, an accessible home, vehicle modification, equipment replacement over a lifetime, and lost income are proved separately with evidence and carry no ceiling at all. In a catastrophic file those heads dwarf the capped portion, which is why the cost of future care report is usually the single most important document in the case.

The Evidence Is a Life Care Plan and the People Who Provide the Care

A rehabilitation specialist prices what the person will need for the rest of their life, year by year, and an actuary reduces it to present value. Family evidence about the daily reality carries the general damages side. Spinal cord injuries appear most often in the firm’s motorcycle accident files, and how a catastrophic claim is run from the first week is set out in what we can do for you. Injury to the discs and vertebrae without cord damage is covered in the back injuries chapter.