New Brunswick Whiplash Lawyers

The first letter from the insurer after a New Brunswick rear-end crash usually treats whiplash as a capped minor injury. Whether that is correct depends on the Injury Regulation’s definition and on your medical record, not on the adjuster’s classification. A New Brunswick whiplash lawyer at this firm tests the classification before anyone talks numbers.

The Cap Applies Only If the Injury Fits the Injury Regulation

New Brunswick caps pain and suffering for a minor personal injury under the Injury Regulation (NB Reg 2003-20), made under the Insurance Act, RSNB 1973, c I-12. The capped figure is indexed each year. The cap applies to non-pecuniary damages only. Lost income, treatment costs, future care and housekeeping loss are paid in full either way. Whiplash that leaves a lasting impairment is argued outside the definition, and that argument is built on medical evidence gathered over months. The firm’s page on the minor personal injury cap in New Brunswick sets out how the definition is fought.

The Record From the First Week Decides the Cap Fight

A whiplash claim has no fracture to point to. It has the family doctor’s note from the first visit, the emergency record if you went, the physiotherapist’s progress reports and the work restrictions. Insurers read gaps in treatment as recovery and late reporting as invention. See a doctor within days, describe every symptom, including headaches, dizziness, jaw pain and sleep disruption, and attend the treatment that is prescribed.

Section B Pays the Physiotherapy While the Claim Runs

Every New Brunswick auto policy includes Section B accident benefits, which fund treatment and partial income replacement regardless of fault. The tort claim against the at-fault driver covers what Section B does not. How Section B and the tort claim interact is explained on the New Brunswick car accident page. We set Section B up properly at the start, because unfunded treatment is treatment that does not happen.

What a New Brunswick Whiplash Lawyer Does First

The first steps are practical. A records request to every treating provider. Section B put in payment so physiotherapy starts. An early view on whether the injury is likely to fall inside or outside the cap, revisited as the record grows. No settlement discussion until recovery has plateaued, because a capped settlement signed in month three cannot be reopened in month twelve.

The Uncapped Heads of Damages Are Valued in Full

Even where the cap applies, it reaches only pain and suffering. The rest of the claim is valued dollar for dollar: wages lost during recovery, including the overtime and shift premiums the pay records prove, the treatment Section B did not fund, the cost of hiring out snow clearing and housework, and future care where a doctor prescribes it. New Brunswick Medicare’s cost of treating you is recovered from the insurer inside the claim.

For a self-employed tradesperson or farmer, income loss is proven from tax returns, invoices and the jobs turned away, and we build that part of the file with your accountant. These uncapped heads are often worth more than the capped one, and they are the part of the claim adjusters price lowest when nobody documents them.

Two Years to Sue, in the Court of King’s Bench

The Limitation of Actions Act, SNB 2009, c L-8.5 gives two years from discovery, which for a crash is the day of the crash. The action is filed in the Court of King’s Bench of New Brunswick, Trial Division. Section B has its own much shorter notice and proof-of-loss timelines, so the file should not wait.

My Neck Still Hurts a Year After the Crash.

Then the minor injury classification is in doubt. Pain that persists and limits work is the fact pattern argued outside the cap, and it is covered on the New Brunswick chronic pain page.

The Adjuster Offered a Settlement in Month Two.

Early offers on whiplash files are made because the injury has not declared itself yet. Once you sign, the claim is closed no matter what happens after. Have the offer reviewed first.

No Fee Unless the Claim Resolves

Nothing up front. The firm acts on contingency and there is no fee unless the claim resolves. Start with the contact page. The Moncton and Saint John offices take whiplash claims across New Brunswick.