我在加国申请伤害保险索赔

为因事故导致他人受伤的车主和房产主提供保险索赔的安省财产及意外保险业是一个价值数十亿美元的行业。该行业所恪守的崇高准则为将事故受害者置为首位。但是，盈利丰厚的保险公司往往在受害者获得区区赔偿额之前大捞一笔，使事故受害者往往难以获得其应得的赔偿额。在某些情况下，受害人如果不经过一场“苦卓绝的奋战”，则会落得个空手而归。

Ontario property and casualty insurance is a multi-billion-dollar industry providing liability coverage to property or car owners for an accident that has caused injuries to others. The industry follows a noble principle that puts accident victim first. However, despite the ballooning premium dollars that the industry has amassed, much of the dollars are scooped up by the industry before they trickle down to the injured parties, leaving accident victims hardly getting what they deserve. In some cases, insurance companies don’t pay up unless the claimant puts up a tough fight first.

虽然我从未提交过交通事故索赔（是福还是祸？），但我在发生了一次滑倒事故后却经历了一场人身伤害索赔。几年前，我因为踩上邻居家门口的一块黑冰而不慎滑倒，导致我的右脚踝三处骨碎。“彻骨之痛”，“麻醉手术”，和“数月拄拐”是我这场事故灾难的真实写照。

While I’ve never made a car accident claim (a blessing or a curse?), I have made a personal injury claim after a slip and fall accident. A few years ago, I slipped on a piece of black ice at a neighbour’s house, leaving three pieces of my bones in my right ankle shattered. In the aftermath of the accident, I suffered excruciating pain, an aesthetic surgery and months of crutches.

在我被推入手术室前，我的医生对我说：“即使做了手术，你的脚踝可能也难恢复到手术之前的状态，即你可能无法在正常行走或跑步了。。。你的伤势太重！”

“Even with the surgery, your ankle may not recover to its original state, allowing you to walk or run as before,” said my doctor before I was wheeled to the surgery room, “because the damages were too severe.”  

滑倒，身心受伤及一场几乎改变人生命运的事故。毋庸置疑，我相信自己已成为人身伤害典型受害者，并完全可就此次事故造成的损害提出索赔。在人身伤害索赔中，赔偿额将包括因事故所导致的受害者的创伤和痛苦的补偿，以及因此而造成的收入减少和误工损失的赔偿。

Slip and fall, a nearly life-altering accident and body injury. I believe that I perfectly fit into the profile of a personal injury victim and that I can demand compensations for the damages of the accident. In a personal injury claim, the damage awarded would include the compensation for the accident-induced pain and suffering, as well as the loss of earning ability and income. 

在受伤后，我便立即聘请律师提出索赔，正式向邻居家所投保的房屋财产保险公司，这家隶属于安省庞大财产及意外保险行业的索赔提供商发起了法律诉讼战。

I hired a lawyer and filed a claim immediately after the injury, formally launching a legal battle against the neighbour’s home insurance company that is part of the giant Ontario property and casualty insurance system. 

但是，等到我的律师在几年之后联系我时，因我一直坚持不懈地进行严格的康复训练，我的伤势已经基本痊愈。在提出索赔后，我的律师对我可能获得的赔付金进行了简单评估，由于我恢复良好，他的评估是可能赔偿范围内的最低额。

But by the time my lawyer contacted me a couple of years later, I had almost recovered from the injury – thanks to my relentless efforts and a stringent workout routine.  After filing the claim, my lawyer gave me a rough assessment of the possible damage awards. It seemed to be at the lowest end of the possible compensations – because I’ve recovered well.  

我的律师还建议我向保险公司提供报税单，乃至包括我的乳房X光片和巴氏涂片检查结果的所有健康记录在内的个人信息。我的律师称：“他们在对方律师口头质询会议上甚至有可能问你的两性关系以及性生活等方面的问题，以期藉此证明事故发生责任在你，从而可以避免向你提供赔偿。”

My lawyer also advised me to give the insurance company permission to access my personal information – from my tax returns to my health records – even including my mammogram and PAP test results. “They may even ask you about your relationships and sex life during the examination for discovery, in a bid to prove that you were at fault for the accident and to avoid its liabilities,” said my lawyer.

 

对方律师的口头质询会议是用我的第二语言英语，以“审讯方式”展开，期间对方律师一直寻找各种机会诋毁我的信誉。他向我提出一连串问题，测试我对媒体行业的了解程度，并质疑我担任报社记者一职的能力。在这种压力下是不能低头的，因为一旦崩溃不仅会让索赔会化为泡影，我还会让我成为他们眼中的一名骗子。

The examination for discovery was carried out in my second language English and in a “interrogation style”, with the opposing lawyer in the case seeking any opportunity to attack my credibility. He bombarded me with questions, either testing my knowledge about the media industry or challenging my skills as a newspaper journalist. Cracking under the pressure was not an option, as it would not only ruin my case but also make me look like a fraud.

我的临场表现似乎令保险公司的律师信服我的确是一名名副其实的记者，在与伤痛做斗争的同时，仍然致力于为社区提供最优质服务。尽管保险公司不曾面临巨大压力必须对像我这样已经伤势痊愈的事故受害人提供索赔，但我的申请却未被完全否决。他们仍决定提供一些赔偿以对我的受伤表示同情，并对我因坚韧不拔的努力而终获奇迹康复的顽强毅力表示赞赏。

My answers might have convinced the insurance lawyer that I was a competent journalist who committed in providing the best quality, value and service to the community while enduring nasty injury pains. Despite not facing a mounting pressure to compensate an accident victim like me – who has fully recovered from the injury, my claim wasn’t totally denied. The insurance company nonetheless offered a compensation to express their sympathy for my injury and to award my tenacity that led to a miracle recovery. 

在我看来，这些赔偿金似乎根本不足以弥补我在受伤后所遭受的创伤和痛苦，更不用说我在索赔过程中所蒙受的巨大精神压力及所被迫所面临的隐私泄露之尴尬境地。的确，如果我还没有康复，或是因此落下永久丧失行走能力等伤残，我可能会得到更多赔偿金，但那并不是我在历经伤痛折磨后想要的结果。

In my view, the compensation seemed to have hardly covered my pain and suffering caused by the injury, let alone the phycological stress and privacy breach I endured during the claim process. Yes, my case could have been worth much more had I not powered through the injury or let the injury get the best of me – such as permanently losing the ability to walk, but that was hardly the outcome I expected from the ordeal. 

为了帮我获得更多保险赔偿，我的律师甚至慷慨地放弃了他微薄的佣金，决定让我拿走所有赔偿金。

To help me maximize my coverage, my lawyer was generously enough to forgo the negligible portion of his share and decided to allow me take every penny of it.

他称：“这些钱你可以全部拿去。”

“You can take it all,” he said.