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 →
Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
