As the title to this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post will tell you, there are so many forms in personal injury cases. If you wanted the Coles Notes version of this entry, I suppose that you can stop reading here. But, if you’re more interested about the details behind these forms then please keep on reading!
At times, it’s difficult to understand why there are so many forms to complete after you’ve been hurt or injured in an accident. If you don’t want any medical assistance, benefits, or compensation, then you don’t have to complete any forms at all. But, that’s not most people. Most people aren’t seeking compensation for their injuries. They are seeking to be made whole from the financial losses which they’ve sustained; or they are seeking treatment for their injuries which are not covered under the public health care system. This is a common theme. If you’ve missed out on work and income, people want that income back. If you need physiotherapy treatment, you should not be out of pocket having to pay for that treatment. All people want, for the most part, is to be made whole following an injury or accident which puts them out of commission. This isn’t so much to ask….Or is it?
One of the themes in personal injury law, as in life, is that if you don’t ask for something, you will get nothing in return. In personal injury cases, money will not fall from the sky. Nor will your out of pocket treatment, or attendant care, be paid out of thin air because a Defendant, or their insurer is being nice. One must ask for these things to get paid.
At law, the way that we ask for things is in writing. The personal injury system, in particular, car insurance and other forms of health and disability insurance are designed through forms. Want something? Fill out this form! What something else? Fill out another form! Don’t want anything? Then don’t fill out any forms at all and leave the insurer alone. The insurer won’t take your claim seriously, or open a claim at all if you don’t complete their forms. In fact, they send out form letters stating that certain forms need to be completed within a certain time limit, otherwise, they won’t open a claim for out at all. And they are right! The way that the law is structured is such that forms need to be completed, within prescribed periods of time, otherwise, the insurer does not have to respond to your claim or pay you any benefits whatsoever.
If an accident victim or disability claimant does not complete the right forms, at the right period of time, then insurers don’t have to pay any benefits or compensation.
If an accident victim or disability claimant doesn’t understand how to complete the form, it’s no excuse. Benefits (in most cases), won’t be paid.
If an accident victim or disability claimant doesn’t understand the language used on the form, again, it’s no excuse. Benefits (in most cases), won’t be paid.
These concepts are rather harsh. But, nobody ever said that insurers were gentle, or that claiming benefits or compensation from an insurance company was supposed to be a pleasant process. In fact, it’s intended to wear you down so that you don’t come back.
Having a personal injury lawyer on your side is great. They understand the system. They understand the harsh reality of dealing with insures. They understand the forms which need to be completed. They understand the right way of completing the forms, how to submit he forms properly, and the timeframes in which to have those forms submitted.
But, it’s not just the injured accident victim and their personal injury lawyer who need to complete and submit forms. In all car accident cases, and long term disability cases, and the majority of other disability cases, a doctor along with the disability claimant’s employer will need to complete forms as well. Doctors and employers are not incentivized to complete forms. Some doctors will charge their patient money for their time in completing a form. Other doctors won’t.
A doctor will need to complete a form in order to identify what the injury is; how it’s effecting the Plaintiff; and to provide an estimate as to how long it will take the Plaintiff to get back to their normal activities or daily living or work. If the doctor is not supportive of the Plaintiff’s case/injury, then it will not be conducive to a successful personal injury case. That means if a doctor writes on the form that you are “fine“, then don’t expect an insurance company to roll out the red carpet and rain benefits down from the sky. The insurer won’t want to pay unless they have to. But, if your doctor is supportive of your injury/disability, then it will be very difficult for the insurance company to ignore what the doctor has written down.
An employer will need to complete a form as well. They have do this when there is an income loss component to a claim. The employer will certify that the claimant worked where s/he said s/he was; and they will also be able to certify how much that person was earning before they were unable to work anymore. Otherwise, the insurer won’t have any sort of quick recourse to determine where or when the person worked; or how much they were taking back in wages/income. The disability claimant is entitled to be made whole, or paid what the policy says they should receive. However, they are not entitled to be put in a better financial position post disability when they can’t work compared to pre-disability when they were working. This means that you should not be making more money and put into a better position post accident vs. pre-accident. Keep in mind that the law is designed in such a way as not to make you “rich”, but rather, to compensate you fairly for your injuries and to do its best to make you whole again.