I have to research this, but I though that I would throw it out there to see if anyone has an opinion (who doesn't ) and / or legal reference for Ontario to see if I could take someone to small claims court for lost wages.

I was involved in a minor accident in October and today I got a summons to be a witness in January. Would I be within my legal right to notify the accused of my intention to sue them in small claims court for lost wages if they are found guilty of the traffic offense. My claim would be for 2-3 days of salary and costs associated with filing in small claims court, I estimate somewhere between $500 and $1000CDN.

My hope is that by notifying the accused of my intent that she might just go ahead and accept responsibility, saving me having to go to court.

Any thoughts, hopefully someone out there has some sort of legal education.

 

who are you a witness for??? The accused???...

 

I would assume that I am a witness for the prosecution. The driver of the vehicle that was responsible for the damage to my Jeep was charged with failing to yield and since I got a nice and up close view with the side of her van as a result, somebody figured that I would probably be a good witness.

I'm going to talk to a friend who has an accident investigation course and determine what, if anything, I can prepare to fully communicate the guilt of the other party. I will also have to mention the fact I have Defensive Driving Classes, Professional Driver Improvement Courses and the fact that I am a qualified driver instructor and examiner for the Canadian Forces.

I've tried to Google Ontario Small Claims court, but haven't been able to find a list of what I can and can not sue for, normally my google-fu is better then this.

Cheers

 

Arent you in the CF? How do you lose wages? We get paid regardless of whether we are at work or not. As a matter of fact I am getting paid as I write this.
if that is the case I don't think you could get "lost wages" back.

 

I only do the CF on Thursday nights and the occasion weekend.

I'm an Electrical Engineer in my civilian career.

 

My bad. I thought you were full time.

 

If I'm not mistaken there is a process (Claim Form) which you would have to submit to the courts for the reimbursement of costs (including lost wages) incurred by witnesses summoned as part of an ongoing investigation/hearing.

 

might have more success speaking to your insurance broker and seeing if there is a prevision for lost wages in your policy. I had a friend of mine in a crash, and although he was a government employee with full benefits, the insurance company covered off his loss of overtime. He had to demonstrated that time he normally worked overtime per month for the past year, and then provided an estimate of how long and therefore how much overtime he would have lost out on.

Your insurance company would likely cost it back to the accused insurance company as he is considered to be at fault. It might be the easiest way to check it out, and least time consuming as well.

Cheers

JKDad

 

Well regardless... I'll tell you now it isn't worth your while to sue in small claims court.... It would prolly be about 3 years before you would even see a court date and if you did win the other person could appeal the decision and in another 2-3 years you will see another court date and if after that you win again.... GOOD LUCK gettin your money!

 

Some interesting points, I doubt my insurance company would cover it since it wasn't work missed as a direct result of the accident, but who knows, could be an interesting discussion.

I never thought about how long it might take to get a date in small claims court, especially since the limit is being upped to $25k on January 1 2010. I need a small small claims court

Regardless I spoke to my civilian manager about all of this today and he said not to worry about it, so it doesn't look like I will have to take a day of vacation or a day unpaid.

So has anyone gone to court for something like this before? I'm curious as to how prepared I should be to testify. Is it strictly a verbal testimony or do they have a white board or other presentation material there to get a point across?

Steve