Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: November 8, 2016

Medical Therapists Getting Paid at the End or working on the basis of a Protected Account (Ontario)

The road to recovery can be a long one following a serious accident. You’ll need all the help you can get; and sometimes the help provided through the publicly funded OHIP system just isn’t enough.

Treatment like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, massage, psychological counselling, speech language pathology and chiropractic treatment in the majority of cases aren’t covered by the OHIP system.

Sometimes insurers will pay for this sort of treatment while the case is still open; in order to support your wellness and rehabilitation.

In car accident cases, these treatments can be paid for by way of an accident benefit claim via OCF-18 Treatment Plan. The car insurer will only pay for the treatment provided that they deem the treatment to be both “reasonable and necessary“. Unfortunately, the insurer gets to act as Judge, Jury and Executioner in deeming whether or not the proposed treatment via OCF-18 Treatment Plan is “reasonable and necessary“; which can be very frustrating for clients.

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Published on: November 3, 2016

Fibromyaligia, Depression & Chronic Pain in a personal injury case (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Many of our clients suffer from fibromyalgia, depression and chronic pain. These injuries arise and present themselves in a wide variety of ways. Each case is fact specific. We never know how these injuries will present themselves or manifest.

Our lawyers see fibromyaligia, depression and chronic pain in the context of car accidents, long term disability (LTD) claims, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall cases and assault claims.

Even though the starting of these points of these claims may be different, the end result is similar. An inability to work, function, or engage in your normal routine of daily living.

The struggle of having to explain to family, friends and loved ones the nature of your injury and how it impacts you life, when the injury is invisible is taxing. It would almost be easier if you had a broken leg. That way, everyone would see what’s wrong with you. Having to describe the pain and depression is difficult and hard for others to understand or sympathize with.

Insurers know this. That’s why in chronic pain, depression and fibromyalgia cases we see lawyers for insurance companies file Jury Notices right away. They know that they can play upon the subjective nature of chronic pain, fibromyalgia and depression in order to defeat your claim. Their goal is to have the jury disbelieve your version of the events along with your pain, such that your case will get dismissed.

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Published on: October 27, 2016

More tips on Completing the newly revised OCF-18 Treatment Plan Form (Accident Benefits Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

The most important form to get treatment (physio, chrio, massage, occupational therapy, counselling, speech language etc.) after a car accident in Ontario is called the OCF-18 Treatment Plan.

This is a magical form. If the OCF-18 Treatment Plan is completed properly; then your treatment will be approved and paid for by the car insurance company.

If the OCF-18 Treatment Plan isn’t completed properly, then your treatment will be denied and you may have to pay for treatment out of your own pocket. Having Treatment Plans denied can be incredibly frustrating on your road to recovery following a serious car accident.

What’s incredible and rather perplexing for the lawyers at our office is given the importance of the OCF-18, how many times this form is updated, revised or changed. There are so many different versions of the OCF-18 it’s getting hard to keep up. Just 27 days ago (October 1, 2016), the OCF-18 Treatment Plan form was revised and changed yet again! Keep in mind that the OCF-18 is just one of the many OCF forms required in an accident benefit claim. There are over 18 other forms you may need to use during the course of your accident benefit claim.

If you visit the Financial Services Commission of Ontario website (FSCO, which is the home of the OCF forms for car accidents), you will see that there are different versions of the OCF-18 Treatment Plan, along with a wide other variety of OCF Claim Forms. For Example:

There is a Revised OCF-18 Effective October 1, 2016

There is an OCF-18 Effective June 1, 2016

There is an OCF-18 Effective November 1, 2014

There is an OCF-18 Effective February 1, 2014

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Published on: October 19, 2016

The R. v. Jordan effect: How a criminal case from BC has impacted car accident cases across Ontario

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

It’s not very often that judgments from the criminal court system impact personal injury and car accident cases.

It’s particularly rare when a criminal case which was decided in British Columbia, has such a far reaching effect that it impacts the way and timing in which personal injury cases are heard in Ontario.

But the case we are about to review is no ordinary case…..

Today’s installment of the Toronto Injury Blog will focus on a unique decision from the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Jordan [2016] SCJ No 27 (QL).

This was an appeal which went all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada, from the BC Court of Appeal, and the BC Supreme Court.

The accused, Mr. Jordan, was charged with various charges in a dial a dope operation. He was charged in December 2008. His trial ended in February 2013. What’s a dial a dope operation? It doesn’t really matter for the context of this analysis.

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Published on: October 12, 2016

Our law firm’s recent experience with auto fraud (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

In last week’s Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog, I briefly shared with you our law firm’s experience seeing and reporting auto/accident benefit fraud.

We had many calls following that blog post wanting to know more, as I didn’t really expand on what had happened.

This week, we will take this opportunity to examine what happened to our clients, and to our law firm when faced with what appeared to be a clear cut case of lies, deception and manipulation amounting to an attempted accident benefit fraud on our clients.

A friend of mine referred me to lovely family who had been involved in a serious car accident. The mom was still in hospital with a broken leg which had been operated on. She remains unable to walk, work, or engage in her normal activities of daily living. She was staying in the Ortho Floor at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga.

I made arrangements and eventually met with the entire family at the hospital. This is normal for personal injury lawyers to do. Hospital meetings are sometimes necessary, and at our law firm, they are free of charge.

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Published on: October 6, 2016

Our experience reporting accident benefit/auto fraud to the FSCO Fraud Tip Line

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

I would like to begin this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post by discussing our law firm’s experience reporting a case of auto fraud to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO). I will get in to what exactly the auto fraud was in a later post, as I simply don’t have the space this week to get in to the story.

FSCO is the government body which takes care of car accident and accident benefit fraud in Ontario. This was our first time reporting an incident.

When you wish to report a fraud, there is a Fraud Hotline, 1-855-5TIP-NOW or 1-855-584-7669. There is also an online form you can complete on the FSCO website. Accident Benefit and Car Accident Fraud has been made to be a big deal with all of the huffing and puffing which insurers do about this “epidemic“. You would think that reporting a fraud would be simple, and that the fraud team at FSCO would know what they’re dealing with, and get right on it seeing as it’s such a big deal.

I was passed on to four separate people at the FSCO Fraud Hotline (plus a hang up altogether) before they even took down any of the fraud victim’s information to investigate the matter. It seemed like nobody knew what to do, nobody knew what to look for, and nobody wanted to deal with our report. I was being passed, from person to person without getting any answers. I had to advance a theory of the fraud which made them say “AH-HA! That’s it!” before they even understood the cause/root of the alleged fraud. It was like they hadn’t even dealt with car accidents or accident benefit cases before.

After much pressing and energy, the fraud has now been reported. What happens now is beyond our law firm’s control. Whether or not we get a progress report from FSCO regarding their investigation is uncertain. I’m doubtful they’ll get back to our office or to the fraud victims. Reporting car accident and accident benefit fraud should NOT be an exercise of jumping through hoops. It should be a clear and easy process with responsive, knowledgeable and accountable staff who get results. Results matter and I got the feeling in dealing with the FSCO fraud team that didn’t know what they were doing. Just our opinion based on our experience.

Now, on to the remainder of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog which focuses on Long Term Disability Claims and their tricky limitation periods…..

If there’s one thing which causes Plaintiff side injury lawyers to panic or lose sleep, it’s the fear of missing a limitation period. Conversely for defence counsel and their insurer clients, the prospect of getting a clear cut win on summary judgment motion because a Plaintiff missed their limitation period is exciting; along with a fast and cost effective way to close a file.

Determining when a limitation period begins to run has always been a challenge in certain types of cases. For motor vehicle accident claims, establishing the date of loss is rather simple. Most of the time, with certain exceptions, all the Court needs to do is look at the date of loss. But the same approach does not apply in the context of long term disability claims where there can be multiple denials, multiple levels of appeal, or the denial is not clear and unequivocal. There can be heated debate between Plaintiff and Defence Counsel as to when a limitation period should begin to run. Continue reading →

Published on: September 28, 2016

An Eye for an Eye for car accident law in Ontario?

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Here’s the scenario:

You or a loved one was hit by a negligent driver. The driver was texting on their cell phone at the time of the collision. The driver was charged and convicted of distracted driving and careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act.

Liability is clearly not an issue. The distracted driver was at fault. There will be no arguments from the Defendant Insurer’s Lawyer in that regard.

As a result of the collision, the Plaintiff sustained a brain injury, along with multiple orthopedic injuries to her neck, back, knees and wrists. The injured accident victim has under gone 6 surgeries at different hospitals across Ontario; each with different orthopedic analyst. After each surgery, the accident victim has been bed ridden for between 1-3 weeks at a time.

The person’s arms will never be the same.

The person’s legs will never be the same.

The person’s back will never be the same.

The person’s mind will never be the same.

The accident victim is completely BROKEN, and no amount of treatment, therapy, surgery or medication will ever make them whole again.

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Published on: September 20, 2016

Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer: Rapid Fire Q&A with Brian Goldfinger

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Throughout the course of the year, the Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer Blog gets tonnes a questions from our loyal readership. We do our best to answer every question we can. Here are some of the best, and most commonly asked questions we have received. All of these questions have been answered by personal injury lawyer, Brian Goldfinger, directing lawyer of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers. We trust that this rapid fire Q&A session will answer some of your pressing questions when it comes to car accident, slip and fall, dog bite, motorcycle and long term disability claims/law.

Q: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR LAW FIRM CHARGE?

A: We don’t charge an upfront hourly rate. We take your case on a contingency fee basis. If our firm doesn’t recover any money for you in your case, that means that you don’t have to pay any legal fees.

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Published on: September 15, 2016

The hidden costs behind rape and sexual assault cases (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

The front page of today’s Toronto Star is a feature article and photo of Mandi Gray. The headline reads “Putting A Price on Rape..Mandi Gray could have shared her trauma with the court. She opted to share her bills instead“.

Kudos to Mandi Gray for eliminating the publication ban and coming out so courageously. This is a huge step forward in rape and sexual assault cases. Fantastic display of strength which we certainly admire.

In case you don’t know much about this case, Mandi Gray is a PhD student at York University. The accused, Mustafa Uruyar was in her program as well. At a party/get together at a bar on Bloor St. in Toronto, both Gray and Uruyar left the bar and headed back to Uruyar’s place.

The Court found that Mandi Gray was raped by Mustafa Ururyar. Mr. Ururyar was convicted and sentenced to the maximum for a summary crime of 18 months in prison, plus up to three years parole. It’s customary in these types for the victim to prepare a Victim Impact Statement to be read aloud in the Courtroom, just before sentencing.

We see these Victim Impact Statements whenever there is a victim of a crime who we can identify and who agrees to share their/thoughts/feelings with the Court. Not all victims have the courage to share Victim Impact Statements. Personal Injury Lawyers see these Victim Impact Statements frequently in drunk driving, violent assault and sexual assault cases. These statements can be relied upon later in the course of the civil proceeding/personal injury case.

Victim Impact Statements can be very emotional. For some, it’s a chance to have their voice heard, unfettered by the Court and cross examination from another lawyer. You can say what you want. But for others, it’s a wasted exercise. The damage is already done. There is no use in speaking or providing a statement. It will only re-hash bad memories. What good will come of it.

Mandi Gray’s Victim Impact Statement was short and to the point. It contained three bills. The first was for 36 psychotherapy sessions totalling $3,770. The second was a bill for $3,453 for legal work paid by Legal Aid to defend her in a Pre-Trial Application. The third was for $10,735 for legal fees which Ms. Gray paid out of her own pocket.

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Published on: September 7, 2016

How to complete the OCF-2 Employer’s Confirmation of Income Form (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

There are a lot of different OCF Claims forms to complete after you’ve been involved in a car accident in Ontario. In this “How to” series, the Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer Blog examines how to complete the OCF-2 Employer’s Confirmation of Income Form. In order to recover income replacement benefits, it’s necessary to have the OCF-2 form completed and submitted to the insurer as soon as possible following a car accident. Failure to have the OCF-2 Employer’s Confirmation of Income Form completed properly and in a timely manner may result in a denial or delay on the recovery of income replacement benefits.

For starters, you need to get a copy of the OCF-2 Employer’s Confirmation of Income For. This can be found on the FSCO Wesbite; the Goldfinger Injury Lawyers Website; through your lawyer, or even through your own insurance company. NOTE: If you wait for the form to arrive in the mail form your own insurance company, it may get lost in the mail or simply delayed. Just print off a form online if you have the resources to do so. You can even go to your local library, find the form online and have it printed right there on the spot for the charge of printing just two pages. The last time I was at my local public library, there was a charge of .25c/page, along with FREE internet access. This is very reasonable.

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