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After you’ve been seriously injured, or even not so seriously injured in a car accident, or motorcycle accident in Ontario, the injured party; regardless of fault is entitle to accident benefits.

This is what Ontario’s “no fault” scheme of accident benefits is all about.

If you are not at fault for the car accident you’re entitled to receive accident benefits.

If you are completely at fault for the car accident you’re entitled to receive accident benefits.

If you were the passenger of a vehicle involved in a car accident you’re entitled to receive accident benefits.

If you were a pedestrian or cyclist struck by a motor vehicle; even if you don’t know the identity of the other driver; guess what: you’re entitled to receive accident benefits (even if you’re at fault for causing the car accident in the first place!).

Crazy right? Even if you cause the accident, you are entitled to receive accident benefits to assist with your recovery, attendant care needs, income replacement benefits or non earner benefits.

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The cost of Physiotherapy is NOT covered by OHIP. That means that if you need physiotherapy, someone needs to pay for it.

The cost of chiropractic treatment is NOT covered by OHIP. That means that if you need chiropractic treatment, someone needs to pay for it.

The cost of out of hospital occupational therapy is NOT covered by OHIP. That means if you need to see an occupational therapist,  someone needs to pay for it.

The same applies to psychotherapy, massage, cranial sacral treatment, nutritionist, a rehab coach, a PSW, an RSW, social work for a car accident case outside of hospital, speech language therapy, neuropsychological testing, driver retraining, case management services, psychology (not to be confused with psychiatry); even some forms of medicinal cannabis for pain management are not covered by OHIP.

All of these services are very important to accident victims for the long roads to recovery following a accident; motor vehicle or otherwise.

If the accident victim has their own form of collateral benefits with an insurer like Blue Cross, Manulife, SunLife, GreenShield, Canada Life etc.; some or percentage of those benefits may be covered. Most policies differ; but it’s not uncommon to see a cap for these services set at around $500 or $750 per year.

If the accident victim was involved in a motor vehicle accident; or an accident arising from the use or operation of motor vehicle s/he will have access to accident benefits to pay for these services.

The level of accident benefits available to each person varies depending on the coverage purchased under the policy along with the degree of injury. For the most minor accidents, people will only have access to $3,500 in benefits. For more serious accidents there is a blended level of $65,000. For the most serious accidents, there is $1,000,000 available in coverage.

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Personal Injury claimants seeking monetary compensation for their injuries and damages (think car accidents, slip and falls, dog bites, motorcycle accidents, bike accidents, long term disability cases) commence their civil claims in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

This is not to be confused with a Criminal proceeding or Highway Traffic Act case. Criminal Cases and Highway Traffic Act cases do NOT involve awarding the injured party monetary compensation for their damages or losses. Rather they seek to determine whether or not the accused broke the law, and if s/he did; then determining what is the appropriate punishment.

Another way of thinking about it, is that Criminal Cases and Highway Traffic Act cases are commenced and led by the State against the Accused to prove that the law was broken and to penalize the accused for their wrongdoing. It’s the public which starts and funds the case.

In contrast, civil claims are commenced by individuals or corporations using their own private funds to seek compensation for their injuries or damages. That’s not to say that a public entity cannot advance a civil claim for compensation or damages.

Civil claims are largely about money and compensation. Criminal Cases are largely about rights and protections of the person.

Most people have never set foot inside of a Courtroom, so they have no idea what Courts look like or how they work.

If people have set foot inside a Courtroom, it’s likely not have have been for a personal injury case or a case before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

For most people, when they go to Court, it’s on a Bi-Law matter dealing with Municipal Enforcement (like a dog bite or a property dispute with the City), a traffic offense or parking ticket (Highway Traffic Act or Municipal Bi-Law), a Criminal matter or a Family Law case. Rarely is it a personal injury case.

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My first case reported in the media was a dog bite claim. It involved a woman who has been diagnosed with PTSD. She had an emotional support dog to help her cope. One day on a walk outside of her the common area of her apartment complex; two unleashed pit bulls attacked and killed her emotional support dog, and attacked my client as well leaving both physical and emotional scars. The story was covered by a number of news outlets because pit bull bans were a hot topic; and it was a very ferocious attack leaving serious and long lasting injuries. The case eventually settled out of Court for a substantial sum. Whenever the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog covers the topic of dog bites, I’m reminded of this case which still has a place in my heart.

If you’ve walked around your block during the pandemic and seen an increase in the number of dogs; you’re not seeing things. There has been a spike in the purchase and adoptions of dogs during the pandemic. It makes sense. More people are at home with time to care for a dog. People have been cut off from friends and family and are looking for another form of love, support and connection. There’s no better time to get a dog then when on lock down I suppose.

But with dog ownership comes great responsibility. Take away the vet bills, cost of food, accessories, training etc. It’s estimated that many of these new puppy purchases and adoptions will lead to an increased number of dogs being surrendered and shelter numbers going up.

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We like keeping our posts in tune with current events here at the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog. We do our best to relate topics in personal injury law to current events as best we can. Sometimes global or local news themes dovetail nicely with personal injury law and how Courts work.

So for this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, we thought it very interesting to discuss the American Presidential Election, and how it relates to personal injury law.

One of the most common complaints hear about the candidates for President; Donald Trump and Joe Biden; is that they lie, stretch the truth, or take liberties with the truth.

This is done so much that reporters have made careers out of fact checking politicians like Donald Trump. Toronto’s very own Daniel Dale leap frogged from local reporter at the Toronto Star, to Washington correspondent at the Toronto Star; to chief fact checker of Donal Trump at CNN and now has 1.1 million Twitter Followers. 

This is the very same Daniel Dale who received an apology from the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford over some comments which were later proven to be false.

To go from reporting on the Mayor of the City of Toronto all the way to fact checking the Leader of the Free World in the President of the United States is a huge jump. And Mr. Dale paved his way reporting on the President of the United States by doing one simple thing right; fact checking to report the truth.

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OCF-19 Catastrophic Claims

There are special legal connotations when injuries from a car accident are deemed to be “catastrophic“. This is a term of art; meaning the term “catastrophic” has a special legal meaning.

Catastrophic is defined under the insurance act as an injury which meets one of the following criteria:

  1. Paraplegia or Tetraplegia;
  2. Severe impairment of ambulatory mobility or use of an arm, or amputation;
  3. Loss of Vision of Both Eyes;
  4. Traumatic Brain Injury (applicant 18 years of age or older at the time of the accident);
  5. Traumatic Brain Injury (applicant under 18 years of age at the time of the accident);
  6. Physical Impairment or Combination of Physical Impairment which results in 55% or more of whole person (there are additional criteria which aren’t included in this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog);
  7. Mental or Behavioural Impairment, Excluding Traumatic Brain Injury, Combined with a Physical Impairment which results in 55 percent or more impairment of the whole person. (there are additional criteria which aren’t included in this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog); and/or
  8. A Class 4 impairment (marked impairment) in three or more areas of function that precludes useful functioning or a Class 5 impairment (extreme impairment) in one or more areas of functioning, due to mental or behavioural disorder (there are additional criteria which aren’t included in this instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog).

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Slip and falls can happen anywhere, at anytime.

Unlike a car accident case, the police don’t come to the scene of a slip and fall to record what happened; or to ticket the at fault party.

That’s very important because in a car accident case, the information regarding liability (the who, where, what, when and why) is recorded by the police. This information is later used by the parties and the Court to place the particulars of the accident in to context. The accident report is relied upon and generally weighed upon by the Court to understand how, where and when the accident happened.

The same cannot be said for a slip and fall case. There is no accident report. There is no recording by independent third party witnesses. There is no accident reconstruction.

Somtimes where a slip and fall happens in a monitored private space (like a supermarket, or a shopping mall) an employee or security guard may record an incident report. Sometimes a video camera may capture the fall itself. But more often than not, this doesn’t happen. And when it does happen, these incident reports are taken by employees, agents, contractors or servants of the defendant property owner. They have an inherent bias towards their employer or contractor to absolve them of liability. Those incident reports won’t favour the accident victim. They will be prepared in such a way as to favour the property owner which isn’t good news for the injured Plaintiff.

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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. These opinions differ from person to person….and that’s ok.

Opinions can be based on a lot of different things: fact, belief, values, upbringing, history, education, training, experience, a gut feeling; or based on absolutely nothing at all!

You don’t need evidence to craft an opinion. It’s yours and doesn’t need to be justified by evidence, facts or anything other than that’s how you feel. And the crazy thing is how you happen to feel changes from day to day. Just like your opinion on something can change day to day, or hour to hour. Opinions aren’t concrete. They are fluid and forever changing.

Take politics. Sometimes Canadians elect a Liberal Government. Sometimes Canadians elect a Conservative Government. Other times Canadians can’t decide and elect a minority government. During an election; Canadians voice their political opinions by casting a vote for their party of choice. The party which they vote for can change from election to election. The change of vote represents a change of political support or political opinion. Opinions are fluid and change.

Evidence is completely different.

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2020 has been a really difficult year for so many people across all walks of life; for so many different reasons.

Where does the hell storm of 2020 start for you? Here are a few line items in no particular order just to put 2020 in perspective:

  • Wildfires blaze out of control and destroy millions of acres of forests in Australia and California. Those California wild fires still blaze. Politicians battle each other whether or not climate change is real
  • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce they are “stepping away” from their Royal Duties
  • Iran launches ballistic missiles at two American military bases in Iraq
  • Ukranian flight crashes over Tehran, Iran, killing 176 passengers
  • An impeachment trial for US President Donald Trump. Trump is acquitted. Depending what side of the isle you’re on, this is either fantastic or a disaster. Regardless of your political stripe, it’s a black eye on American politics showing a nation divided
  • Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crashes killing Kobe, his daughter Gigi along with 7 others
  • The UK formally draws out of the European Union. Depending on which side of the political spectrum you’re on, this is either great news, or a catastrophe. Nonetheless, it shows a continent divided.
  • Stock markets crash globally, recording their largest losses on record
  • 2020 Tokyo Olympics postponed.
  • Death of George Floyd. Black Lives Matter protests across America show a country divided
  • Death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg
  • Death of Eddie Van Halen
  • Disneyland closes its doors. First time that’s happened since JFK was assassinated.
  • COVID brings the world to a standstill with over 1,000,000 deaths and global lockdowns.

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More and more; people are purchasing insurance or renewing their insurance policies over the phone. This can relate to car insurance, mortgage insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, critical illness insurance, health/medical insurance. It doesn’t matter what type of insurance it is; the reality is that we are placing more emphasis on purchasing these policies over the phone.

An important decision came across my desk when it comes to the purchase or renewal of insurance over the phone. It’s an important read for anyone. The decision is Estate of Donald Farb v. Manulife et. al., 2020 ONSC 3037; the entirety of which can be read by clicking the link here.

The decision was written by the Honourable Justice E. Belobaba who is one super duper smart Judge. Ready his decision doesn’t require a law degree to understand. It’s easy to read and makes sense to lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

So, if you’re buying insurance; no matter the type over the phone; here’s what you need to know from this decision:

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