Legal-Ease Glossary: G to L

From “general damages” to “limitation period” our glossary of legal, insurance and medical terms has got the answers to the question “what the heck does that mean?” This edition covers words beginning with the letters G to L.

General Damages: The monetary award in a lawsuit given for the pain and suffering endured as a result of an accident.

Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS): A scale used to assess the degree of brain impairment from an accident. It can be administered directly after the accident and later to assess improvement. The scale ranges from 3 (most severe) to 15 (least severe). A person who receives a GCS rating of 9 or less is considered to have suffered a catastrophic impairment.

Housekeeping and Home Maintenance Benefit: An accident benefit that compensates an injured person for expenses incurred if they are no longer able to perform their usual household duties as a result of injuries sustained in an accident. This benefit is only available to a catastrophically injured person or someone who purchased coverage as an optional benefit under their auto insurance policy.

Income Replacement Benefit (IRB): This accident benefit compensates an injured person for lost income for two years following an accident if they can’t complete the essential tasks of the job they held before the accident. This benefit is payable for longer than two years only if the insured person has a complete inability to participate in employment or self-employment that they are reasonably suited for by way of education, training or experience. IRBs are calculated at 70 per cent of the insured person’s gross income, up to $400/week. If the injured person purchased additional insurance coverage, they could receive up to $1000/week.

Incurred Expense: A definition used in Statutory Accident Benefit claims that refers to housekeeping, home maintenance, caregiver and attendant care expenses. An expense is not “incurred” unless the claimant has actually received the goods or services to which the expense relates. The claimant must have paid the expense, promised to pay the expense or be otherwise legally obligated to pay the expense. The person who provided the goods or services must have done so in the course of their usual employment, occupation or profession or have sustained an economic loss as a result of providing the goods or services to the claimant.

Limitation Period: The time following an accident or incident during which a person can issue a claim for a loss that they have sustained. If a claim isn’t issued at the court within the specified time period, the right to compensation is lost. The Limitations Act, 2002, outlines the specifics of all limitation periods in Ontario.