What counts as special damages
Special damages are the measurable, receipt-provable costs your injury has already caused, as distinct from general damages for pain and suffering. They include:
- Treatment costs: physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage, psychology, dental
- Prescriptions, braces, mobility aids, and medical equipment
- Travel to treatment: mileage, parking, transit
- Paid help for housekeeping, snow removal, yard work, and childcare you can no longer do
- Damaged personal property, from glasses to car seats
- Out-of-pocket income shortfalls not covered elsewhere
Individually small, these routinely total thousands of dollars over a claim, and insurers only pay what is documented.
Documentation is everything
Start a dedicated folder or phone album today: every receipt, every appointment, every kilometre. Keep a simple log of dates and purposes. Where family members provide unpaid care and help, note the hours, Alberta law can recognize those services too. We give every client a tracking system so nothing is lost by the time the claim resolves.
Alberta Accident Law works on a full contingency basis: you pay nothing unless we win. There are no hourly rates, no retainers, and no bill if your claim does not succeed. Your case review is free, confidential, and carries no obligation, so finding out where you stand costs you nothing.
Special damages within your larger claim
Specials are one head of damage among several, and the discipline of tracking them strengthens everything else: the same records that prove expenses also prove treatment compliance and injury impact.
Under Alberta's Limitations Act you generally have 2 years from the date of the accident to start a claim, and some situations carry much shorter notice deadlines. Evidence also degrades quickly: skid marks fade, camera footage is overwritten, and witnesses forget. Calgary injury lawsuits are filed at the Calgary Courts Centre on 5th Street SW, in the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. Smaller claims may proceed in the Alberta Court of Justice. The sooner we start, the stronger your position.