Nova Scotia Psychological Injury Lawyers

Mental injury is compensable in Nova Scotia with or without a physical injury beside it. A Nova Scotia psychological injury lawyer at this firm builds these claims to the standard the Supreme Court of Canada set in Saadati v Moorhead, 2017 SCC 28: no named diagnosis is required, only proof of a disturbance that is serious and prolonged. That standard is met with evidence, not assertion, and the evidence is the treating record.

Serious and Prolonged Is the Standard, and the Record Has to Show Both

Ordinary upset after a frightening event is not compensable. A condition that persists, disrupts work and relationships, and needs treatment is. The gap between those two is bridged by documentation: the family doctor’s chart, the psychologist’s notes, the medication history, and the people who watched you change. A formal diagnosis of PTSD, major depression or an anxiety disorder remains the strongest single piece of evidence, and the file is built toward one wherever the clinical picture supports it. Corroboration rounds it out: the employer’s account of performance before and after, the coach who lost a volunteer, the sibling who now makes the phone calls you used to make.

The Cap Definition Targets Physical Soft Tissue Injuries

Nova Scotia’s minor injury cap, in the Automobile Accident Minor Injury Regulations under the Insurance Act, RSNS 1989, c 231, defines the capped injury in terms of sprains, strains and whiplash-type injuries. A psychiatric condition is argued outside that definition, and a serious one is valued on its own weight. The vehicle-claim machinery around it, Section B funding for psychological treatment included, is on the Nova Scotia car accident page.

In Halifax the LTD Fight and the Injury Claim Usually Share a File

Nova Scotia’s large hospital, university and public sector workforces carry group LTD coverage, and those insurers contest mental health claims closely. The refusal letter cites no objective findings; the termination letter arrives at the two-year change of definition. That lawsuit has its own two-year clock from the denial and is covered on the Nova Scotia long-term disability page. We pursue it together with the injury claim using one consistent evidentiary account.

The Defence Psychiatric Examination Is Prepared for Like Testimony

The defence will retain its own psychiatrist, and the interview can run hours and reach back through your whole history. You attend, you answer accurately, and you do not minimize, because understatement in that room reads later as recovery. The report typically attributes the condition to anything but the crash: childhood, workplace, personality.

It is answered with the treating chart’s timeline, which shows when the symptoms actually began, and with the pre-crash records showing the life you led before. Preparing you for that examination is part of the file plan from the start, not an afterthought.

Two Years to Sue in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The Limitation of Actions Act, SNS 2014, c 35 gives two years from discovery. The action is filed in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Psychological evidence matures slowly, so the claim is filed on time and valued when the prognosis is real.

What a Nova Scotia Psychological Injury Lawyer Does at the Start

Get treatment running and paid for. Order the complete charts, including pre-crash records, because the defence will argue everything was pre-existing. Answer that with the before-and-after: the work history, the activities, the person your family describes. Coordinate the LTD position early.

Funding is solved in parallel. Section B on the auto policy, a group benefits plan and MSI-covered care each have a role, and unpaid counselling invoices should come to us rather than end the counselling.

My Condition Existed Before, and the Crash Made It Worse.

Aggravation of a pre-existing condition is compensable. The defendant takes you as you were and pays for the worsening.

I Witnessed My Child Injured in the Crash.

A claim for your own mental injury can arise from witnessing harm to a close family member. It is assessed on the same serious and prolonged standard.

No Fee Unless the Claim Resolves

Contingency. No fee unless the claim resolves. The Halifax office acts across Nova Scotia. Start with the contact page.