If you have been in a car accident in Vancouver, BC and the party at fault has ICBC insurance then you need to know what all is involved. We will start that off today by letting you know what a personal injury claim entails. If you are the party at fault, you may not make a claim for personal injury.

What you can make a claim for

Aside from being injured in the accident there may be other damages that you have a right to file for. These can include damages for pain and suffering, loss of future as well as past wages, out of pocket expenses, management fees, legal disbursements and costs (lawyer fees), future care, tax gross up and court order interest.

Limitations

It should be noted that when you are injured in an accident there are time limits that you will have to meet in order to make your claim. This time is generally within 30 days of the accident. The time limits are actually a law and not just corporate policy.

Medical Assistance

As with any accident, you should seek medical treatment immediately, even if you do not notice any injuries right away. With vehicle accidents sometimes the soft muscle tissue does not present any signs of being injured for up to 48 hours.

Legal Issues

You should also get into contact with a good personal injury attorney. This is imperative. By choosing the right attorney you can make sure that you get everything that is coming to you. That is generally a significantly larger amount than if you were to try to deal with ICBC on your own. This is because a trained and licensed personal injury attorney does this kind of thing on a daily basis. They are familiar with all of the statutes and laws pertaining to this area. They can recommend doctors and other medical personnel that ICBC approves of. They know which documents to file and how to get all of the pertinent records from the medical personnel that you have had contact with. If your case ends up going to court then they also are familiar with the other attorneys as well as the judges who sit the case. This will put them in a better position to argue your case than it will for you to try to go it alone. Especially if you car has been loaned to you with such risky loans as bad credit car loans.

Get yourself healed

Once you get a good personal injury attorney then pretty much what you need to do is get your injury healed. If the lawyer asks you for anything, information or documents then you should make sure that you get him what he asks for as soon as possible.

Dealing with ICBC and personal injuries from car accidents does not have to be just as painful as your injuries. If you follow the procedures that are put in place by the laws and make your claim in the specified amount of time then things can generally take care of themselves.

It is not required that you obtain the services of a personal injury lawyer but it is recommended to anyone anywhere who is injured in a vehicle accident.
ICBC also has a tips and advice book that you can get that will let you know all of their policies and procedures for anyone dealing with ICBC and personal injuries from car accidents. On that same site they also give an overview of the things that you will find it the book. When you get this book, read it to find out everything that you are entitled to as well as how to go about getting it.

Vancouver is not the only place where credit card debt is rising. It is happening all over. The economy is at a horrendously ungraceful level and getting worse by the day. People are restless, making their payments for things like utilities and mortgages and car payments with their credit cards because that is the only way that they can afford to each month. They do this knowing that their credit cards will charge them interest so they will end up spending even more on their bills than what they truly cost. CCC has a full guide on getting out of credit card debt.

Is there a solution to this? How will we ever get free of the debt monster?

When a person is putting everything on a credit card then he is actually adding to the problem instead of fixing it. That being said, there are ways that he can lower the amount of interest that is accruing on all of his outstanding balances. Because Vancouver’s debt level is rising, secure a low interest credit card now. By doing this and transferring outstanding balances to the new lower interest card there will be an enormous savings right out of the gate. Also, some credit cards will not charge any interest at all for balances that occur from transferring. Credit cards like this should be sought out yesterday!

Finding the Right Card

There are all sorts of credit cards out there. How do you find the one that is right for you? There are web sites where you can go and compare credit card features. Look for cards that have low interest rates coupled with low balance transfer fees. Check each card for minimum monthly payment amounts and for benefits like cash back for certain types of purchases or even points for purchases.

A Few Examples

The Platinum Plus MasterCard credit card has no interest on balance transfer or deposits for a period of one year. After that year the interest rate goes to 1%. There is also no annual fee for this card.

With the TrueLine MasterCard there is a fixed rate of APR at 9.9%. That being said, there is only a 1% rate of interest charged for balance transfers.
The BankAmericard Visa offers 0% annual percentage rate for the first 15 months but that is only on purchase and transfers made in the first two months of having the card. After that it will jump to between 10.99 and 20.99%. This is the kind of card you should watch out for. It sounds like a good deal at first and when you read the fine print you will see that you will end up paying just as much if not more than what you are already paying.

Some cards also have an annual fee. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the interest rates they charge. If the interest is low enough to offset the annual fee and then some then it might be a good idea but if it doesn’t then you should walk away from a card like this.

There really are so many options out there for securing a low interest credit card and the options are so variable that you will really just have to do the legwork and find out which low interest credit card will fit your needs the best. Everyone’s financial situation is different so nobody can tell you without knowing all of your business which credit card is right for you. If they try to then they are out of line. Choose the one that has the yearly interest rates as well as the rates for balance transfers that will help you be able to pay it off.

In June of 2011 the Canucks were playing in the championship for the Stanley Cup. (Ice hockey for those who are not fans). They were doing great and made it to the 7th game where they choked and did not score a single point. They lost the game 4-0 and apparently this was quite upsetting to some of the fans. They began throwing beer bottles at the giant televisions that had been set up in a staged area for fans and then started setting garbage cans and even cars on fire. This was the beginning of a huge riot that tore through the peaceful city of Vancouver and made headlines around the world. Fistfights were going on all around and cars were even flipped over. The police ended up having to use flash bombs to try to regain some sort of control over the situation. Hundreds of people were trapped in a theater by the rioters and could not get out for hours. The level of debt and bad credit loans for cars rose drastically during the aftermath.

The resulting investigation lasted over 2 years and cost an estimated $2 million in damage and legal fees. When it was finally over with there were more than 100 people arrested and an even greater number that were injured. One rioter even took a firework to the groin! 1 person was critically injured, 4 were stabbed and 9 of the police officers trying to regain control of the situation were injured as well. The legal implications of a riot are catastrophic, nothing had happened like this in Vancouver since 1994. This time however, due to the advancing technology with cell phones and cameras a lot of people were standing by taking pictures and video; almost all of which ended up on the internet. Millions of photos were delivered to the authorities who had to sift through them looking for evidence and finding out who was responsible for what. There were even 3 Americans who were later arrested for the parts that they took in the riot.

Damage to Cars and Vehicles

It’s safe to say the lawyers for this event will make a fortune, personal injury and criminal lawyers alike. ICBC, an insurance company in Vancouver sued 46 people for damaging over 77 cars and vehicles that were insured by them and damaged or destroyed in the riot. This was a civil suit and not a criminal one. It was reported that ICBC had paid claims totaling over half of a million dollars in claims for vehicles that had smashed windows or scratches. There were vehicles that had been overturned, had been caved in from people jumping on them or hit with different objects and even set on fire. It was also reported that most of the 77 vehicles in question were damaged too badly to repair and so they were written off. There were also 2 police cars that were set on fire. All in all, 17 vehicles were burned.

Clean up

More than 15,000 people showed up the day after the riots to help with clean up. They took a day off of work to prove to the world that not all Canuck fans were as bad as the people who rioted.

Investigation Results

It was later found that the riot had been started by a small group of people who had actually come to watch the game with the specific intention of starting a very unpeaceful riot. Some of them had been linked to protests at the opening day for the 2010 Winter Olympics. When they came to watch the game that night they brought things with them like gasoline, eye protection and other assorted tools that were used in smashing up cars and store windows. They even through newspaper boxes that were left in the area through windows. Property damage has been estimated at $4.2 million.

No matter where you are it is always a good thing to save money. If you happen to be in the Vancouver area this is made a bit simpler because of all of the Vancouver couponing and flyer deals that you can get. These flyers and coupons can save someone a lot of money if they are trying to stay on a budget. Couponing has become so popular because of the economy that companies are trying to give you all the savings that are possible in order to keep you purchasing their goods and/or services.

Cutting Coupons

Many times you can find coupons in the newspaper. Sometimes these will be for things that you normally use and sometimes not. Cut the ones out for the ones you use and pay special attention to the expiration date. Sometimes you may even get coupons or flyers sent to you in the mail. You may even subscribe to different web sites on the computer where you can “cut coupons”.
You can find flyers in your mail box or even left on your door or car window. These are often more for services than food; although many pizza and other take-out restaurants use this type of marketing.

Remember that not all coupons and flyers are for food and household items. You can find Vancouver couponing and flyer deals for services like home repair, oil changes or any other vehicle related repair or parts, entertainment and even hotels and vacation packages. These days you can just about get coupons and flyers for nearly anything.

Keeping them organized

You should keep a book or an envelope with different sections in it for your coupons and flyer deals. These ‘coupon sorters’ can be a great help in keeping your coupons organized for you. You can sort them by aisles in the grocery store or even by headings like ‘‘Frozen Food” and “Canned Food”, “Dairy’’ and “Produce”, etc.

Check the ads

When using your coupons or flyer deals for grocery shopping you should mark the items that you have coupons or flyers for and see if any of the local grocery stores have any of them on sale. This can save you even more money. Also some grocery stores will offer to double the coupons or flyers on different days.

Stock up

Even if you do not need certain things right at the moment you should take advantage of any coupons or flyers that you may have for the items as long as the items in question are not perishable. This will save you money down the road and when you need it, you have it. There are times when grocery stores and other stores will have Buy 1 Get 1 Free sales. This is an amazing opportunity to use your Vancouver couponing and flyer deals… especially if it is at a store that offers double coupons! Keep your eyes peeled for deals like these in order to maximize your savings potential.

If you are careful in your shopping habits and follow the guidelines set forth here today then you will be absolutely amazed at how much you can save. Yes, it takes time and patience to get everything organized and to look through all of the ads marking not only what you need but also what you have coupons for. Yes, it can irritate the people in line behind you at the store when you hand the clerk 110 coupons to scan, but when you see the price of the bill go from $125 to $10 you will be more than glad that you did it like this.