Canada has passed a new law, one that benefits those property owners that could get targeted by the victims of a slip and fall incident.
Details on new law laid down in Occupier’s Liability Act, also known as Bill 118
The injured party must provide the negligent property owner with notice of plans to file claim. Notice must reach the property owner’s hands no more than 60 days after the accident. The notice should take the form of a letter, one that has been addressed to either the property owner or an independent contractor. The independent contractor would be overseeing the premises where the fall took place. Victims that so desired should feel free to send a notice to both the owner and the contractor.
Injury Lawyer in Ottawa knows that the notice should give the time, date and location of the reported incident. All written notices must be delivered either in person, or by using certified mail to send the required, written document. After the notice has been sent, the clock starts ticking, as time passes, counting off the time before the deadline for pursuing legal action, and filing a lawsuit. The deadline arrives 2 years after the sending of the written notice.
Exceptions to demand for the notice’s delivery to the negligent individual
That demand gets lifted, if the slip and fall incident has caused the victim’s death. The court could agree to allow a delay in the sending of the notice. A court might take that action, if it found that the victim had presented a good reason for failing to deliver the written document/notice within the 60-day timeframe.
Benefits linked to new rule
Occupiers and contractors that receive one of the required notices have an extended time period in which to remove the hazard that caused the reported slip and fall accident. That benefit has been pointed to as one that should make daily life a bit safer for all residents of Ontario.
The second benefit should prove helpful to a smaller group of men and women. Those are the owners and contractors that would need to assemble the evidence that an attorney could use in a coming trial. The time period for collection of such evidence would be the 2 years following the issuance of the requested notice.
Fresh evidence aids development of a stronger case. Hence, a defendant’s receipt of a longer period for collection of evidentiary material helps the same defendant to build a stronger case. Ontario’s personal injury lawyers do not welcome introduction of Bill 118. Each of them knows that the Bill’s provision creates circumstances that tend to put their clients at a distinct disadvantage. Those provisions give the opposing party extra time for collecting evidentiary material.
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