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Many people have benefits through work. Most understand those benefits to cover medical expenses such as massage, physiotherapy, medication, and dental expenses. Few think of those benefits as covering a portion of your income while you’re disabled and unable to work. This concept is called “disability benefits” or “disability insurance“.

These disability benefits are VERY important. Having them is excellent and great idea. Even if they aren’t offered through your employer’s benefit program; you can still purchase such benefits on your own from an insurer, or from an insurance company. These benefits are commonly referred to as Short Term Disability Benefits, and Long Term Disability Benefits. They typically run up until the age of 65 in the event of disability. Large insurers which offer LTD insurance are such companies as Manulife, Great West Life, Canada Life, Sun Life, Industrial Alliance, SSQ, Desjardins, RBC Insurance, Co-Operators, Equitable Life amongst others.

But it’s not enough to have access to this insurance. It’s important to understand HOW IT WORKS, and how to apply for it in the event of disability. Every policy is unique. Every policy will contain it’s own definitions of disability, their own exclusions, along with their own benefit amounts. Some policies are better than others. A BAD LTD policy is ALWAYS better than NO POLICY whatsoever. Usually, you get what you pay for. And, just because your employer offers LTD insurance through work, doesn’t mean that it’s a good LTD policy. Check it out for yourself how it works or talk you a broker or a lawyer about it.

As with any insurance, just because you’re hurt, doesn’t mean that benefits will automatically begin to flow. You have to jump through some hoops in order to get those benefits to begin. At the end of the day, you have something the insurance company has; and which the insurance company does NOT want to give up; it’s their money!

The first rule of insurance is that if you don’t claim for it; you won’t get it. The same applies to your LTD policy. If you don’t make a claim on it, then you won’t be able to collect benefits on the policy. But claiming these benefits isn’t as simple as putting in a phone call, or filling out a form online. There are a few forms which you, and your doctor  and employer will need to complete. The whole process can take some time.

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Around this time of the year, our law firm receives a noticeable spike in pedestrian collision claims. These are the sort of cases where somebody is trying to cross the street (on foot), and they get hit by a car, or some other sort of motor vehicle (even a bike).

What explains the spike is anybody’s guess. But, it would make sense that near the end of October we get less daylight, making visibility more difficult for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. We also have some worse weather which can lead to visibility issues as well. And who can forget the Halloween Holiday, whereby residential streets are flooded with trick or treaters in full blown costume.

At the time of preparing the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post, at least 12 pedestrians were hit by cars around the General Toronto Area during the commuting periods. Some new outlets have the number as high as 16 pedestrian collisions throughout the course of the day. That’ a lot! Police are attributing this spike to poor visibility on account of decreased daylight and bad weather. This was one of the first days of the fall where the weather was rather cold, damp and dark.

Scary because Halloween is right around the corner and you get the sneaking suspicion that people can’t drive safely anymore? Scary because you get the feeling that motorists don’t have respect for other motorists, cyclists or pedestrians? I know the feeling. Adding insult to injury is that the penalties handed out by our Courts following a breach of the Highway Traffic Act are akin to slaps on the wrist. A few demerit points, a license suspension, a fine. None of these penalties are proportional to the devastating impact a serious car accident can have on an innocent accident victim and their family.

There are a lot of young parents who read the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog. Having a young family of my own, I want to share with you some of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers’s top tips on how to keep Halloween safe when you’re outside trick or treating this holiday season. If the recent trend of motorists colliding with pedestrians continues, I’m certain you can use these tips. I’ll do my best to give you some out of the box tips you may not have even thought of aside from the usual ones you may see in other media online.

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Generally speaking, adults have 2 years from the date of a car accident, or slip and fall to sue. If you wait until after two years from the date of the accident, you’re likely out of time to sue. This is called a “limitation period“. These limitations, are set out by statue. The best place to look when it comes to limitation periods is Ontario’s Limitations Act, 2002, SO 2002, c. 24. or the applicable act for the subject matter you’re dealing with. You’ll likely need a lawyer to help sort these things out, so have a good one to call if you have any questions about this sort of thing. But this isn’t the purpose to today’s instalment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog.

Sometimes, large insurers try to contacts OUT of the limitation periods which are set for in the Limitations Act,  2002, or other statues. Personal injury lawyers often see this in the context of long term disability litigation.

Long Term Disability claims are unique, because unlike a car accident or slip and fall case where the applicable law is generally tort law from our common law system along with other statutes such as the Negligence Act, Occupier’s Liability Act, or Insurance Act; Long Term Disability Claims (LTD) are entirely contractual claims. The insurer and their underwriters draft the contract. The claimant is suing for benefits which are supposed to be provided for under that contract. If the contract doesn’t exist, then there’s no LTD claim. If the benefits don’t exist under the contract, then they won’t exist in your claim.

A trend which Plaintiff side lawyers have been seeing more and more in the context of LTD litigation are instance whereby large LTD insurers, such as Manulife, Great West Life, Sun Life, SSQ, Desjardins, RBC, Equitable Life, Industrial Alliance and others are trying to contract OUT of statutory limitation periods to reduce them. They do this by virtue of tucking in clauses to those lengthy and complicated LTD insurance contracts.

An LTD claimant, or lawyer may assume that they have two years from the date of denial to sue. This would seem entirely reasonable. BUT, the insurer is relying on one of these limitation clauses to have the claim dismissed from Court, so that they don’t have to pay out any benefits on the claim.

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Eugenie Bouchard is the greatest female tennis player in Canadian history. She has made international headlines for her amazing tennis skills. But these days, her press isn’t about success on the tennis court. Rather, it’s about her battling her head injury and concussion symptoms off the court. Those symptoms have become so serious, that Genie has needed to retain a personal injury lawyer to make sure that she gets the compensation she deserves. I imagine she didn’t want to go this route, but that just goes to show the severity of her injuries.

This week, lawyers in the US Federal Court-Brooklyn, filed a  law suit against the United States Tennis Association (USTA). The USTA is the body which organizes and runs the US Open; one of the four grand slam tennis tournaments held in a season. The US Open is held in Queens, New York, and is arguably the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. Others would argue the most prestigious tennis tournament is Wimbeldon; but I’m a big US Open fan. I like it when players get to wear something other than white on the Court, and get to show off their personalities without being penalized for it. I also LOVE US Open night matches that stretch in long in to the evening. There’s also nothing better than all of the celebrities that come out to watch US OPEN games. There’s no better beacon or stage for tennis than the US Open.

At this year’s US Open, on around September 4, 2015, Genie had just finished a mixed doubles match. She returned to the women’s locker room, and entered the treatment/physiotherapy area. It might have been dark, and the lights may have been off. As Genie was walking in the training/physio area, she slipped and fell; thereby slamming her head and sustained a concussion/brain injury.

If it could happen to Genie; it can happen to you!

Genie tried playing in her singles match the following day, but she was not able to compete. If you will recall, she attended the US Open grounds wearing dark sunglasses, with a hoodie draped over her head. This wasn’t a good sign. As a result of failing to compete in the Open, she lost out on significant prize money, and international exposure. In a subsequent tournament, she was also forced to withdraw as a result of head injury symptoms.

The filing of this law suit has drawn international attention. Let’s face it; this is a big story. It’s possibly the highest profile slip and fall case I’ve ever seen because of the parties involved, the place the fell occurred (the US OPEN), along with the potential damages at stake as a consequence of the fall.

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The balance between access to justice vs. the goals of expediency, affordability and proportionality of the civil justice system were weighed in the case of Anjum et. al. v. Doe et. al. Here, it was ruled that a defendant insurer would be permitted to bring a 3 day summary judgment motion requiring viva voce evidence from a catastrophically injured Plaintiff along with evidence from competing experts on both sides.

The practical effect, although expressly denied in the decision, is that the parties are having an expensive and time consuming three day mini trial on liability, without a jury.

The Plaintiff Anjum was involved in an alleged hit and run car accident which caused catastrophic injuries. Anjum could not identify the vehicle that hit him, so he sued his own insurer, State Farm under the unidentified motorist coverage under his policy.

State Farm denied that there was any evidence indicating involvement from another vehicle and brought a summary judgment motion along these lines.

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Just after 4 p.m. this past Sunday, Gary and Neriza Neville were driving with their grandchildren – Daniel, 9, Harry, 5, and Millie Neville-Lake, 2 – and the children’s great-grandmother Josephina Frias when an SUV operated by Marco Muzzo slammed into the side of their minivan at an intersection north of Toronto. Mr. Neville and all three children died of their injuries.

The parents of the children, Edward Neville and Jennifer Neville-Lake, were not in the minivan. Ms. Neville-Lake learned of the collision while watching TV news at home and has called the loss “the worst nightmare.”

The cause of the collision appears to have been drunk driving. Charges have been laid, but nothing has yet to be proven in Court.

Many of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog readers, and non-readers heard about this tragic quadruple fatality claim. It brings to light a number of legal issues which I would like to clarity regarding drunk driving laws, and how damages work for drunk driving claims along with Court penalties for drunk driving.

Here are some of the most common misconceptions about drunk driving and fatality/wrongful death claims:

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Almost every client who enters my law firm has the same idea after they’ve been injured in an accident:

“I ‘ve been paying my car insurance premiums for years and years; now that I’ve been hurt; it’s now the insurance company’s turn to play their part and start paying me benefits“.

In a perfect world, this is exactly how insurance would work. You pay premiums; and when you need it most, the insurance company pays you benefits. But the world is far from perfect. That’s why we have lawyers…

What exactly are those so called “benefits” and how do they work?

The term “benefits” is so loose and broad. What people have in mind for benefits is greatly different than what those benefits are.

The first benefit which may come to mind is a benefit which replaces your income if you can’t return to work on account of a serious injury.

Under the SABS/Insurance Act, this is called an income replacement benefit or IRB.

It’s a common misconception that the IRB covers 100% of your wages. It doesn’t. It also doesn’t kick in until 7 days after the accident. And just because you’ve been involved in a car accident, doesn’t automatically entitle you to an income replacement benefit. There are a variety of medico-legal tests which need to be met. In addition, you need to prove with real concrete evidence that you were gainfully employed in the 52 weeks prior to the accident and earning an income (not unreported cash income).

Helping accident victims understand exactly how the income replacement benefit works is not an easy task for a variety of reasons. But, this Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog post will do its best to de-mystify the IRB.

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Earlier this week, the Kathleen Wynne Ontario Provincial government announced unilateral cuts to all of its fees which it pays to doctors. The cuts around around 2.65% across the board for services. Ontario doctors have been without a proper contract with the Government since March 31, 2014. Contract negotiations have broken down such that the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) refuses to accept the provinces proposals; and the province refuses to give in to the OMA’s demands.

In addition to the 2.65% cut to all OHIP plan fees, the province will eliminate funding to doctors to take continuing medical education courses; will reduce the fees for walk-in visits by $1.70 to bring it in line with with the fee for regular visits to a family doctor; eliminate the premium for doctors to accept new patients who are healthy; and eliminate the number of family doctors in well-serviced areas who can join family health teams where doctors are paid by the number of patients they enroll (not fee for service).

10% of Ontario Provincial budget is devoted towards healthcare. Of that 10%; 25% is devoted towards paying doctors. I would be ok if that budget were higher on both ends, but that’s me. Now you know where I stand.

Are doctors happy with these unilateral terms imposed by the government? I haven’t spoken with a single doctor OR patient who has welcomed these changes.

Will doctors strike? No. But the reprecussions will be felt across the provincial health care system. More on that later.

How much does the Province predict they will save by these cuts and changes? Another good question. In fact, that question was so good, that Minister of Health, Dr. Eric Hoskins dodged the question when it was asked to him.

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Labour Day has come and gone. You can kiss the summer and wearing those light white beach side pants goodbye.

With the passing of Labour Day comes the arrival of the back to school season. The roads are noticeably busier across Ontario. I can tell you from experience that the morning commutes in Toronto, London, Kitchener-Waterloo and Peterborough take longer and are noticeably more congested.

Back to school brings more school buses on the roads, along with more children walking or cycling to school. This added traffic brings with it increased risk for serious accidents and serious injury. This is why this edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog will focus on the top safety tips for the Back To School Season Commute. Some obvious tips; others not so obvious. Enjoy!

  1. Signage: Those “School Zone” and “Community Safety Zone” signs really mean something. They have been installed for a reason after long road studies and traffic observations; so watch your speed and watch out for pedestrians and cyclists on their morning commutes.
  2. Stop Signs on Buses matter: School buses come equipped with their very own stop signs. They are attached to an extendable arm at the side of the bus and activate on pick ups and drop offs. These stop signs aren’t gimmicks. They have the very same force as those signs which are fixed in place on community streets.It is illegal to fail to stop for a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing. If you don’t stop, you can be fined $400 to $2,000 and get six demerit points for a first offence. If you are convicted a second time within five years, the penalty is a fine of $1,000 to $4,000 and six demerit points. You could also go to jail for up to six months. In Ontario, school-bus drivers and other witnesses can report vehicles that have illegally passed a school bus. If you are the vehicle’s registered owner, these same fines, but not demerit points or jail time, may be applied to you.Watch for school buses near railway crossings. All school buses must stop at all railway crossings. The upper alternating red lights are not used for these stops, so be alert. If you are driving behind a stopped school bus with its flashing light extending, the Ministry of Transportation requires that you stop at least 20 meters BEHIND the stopped bus. 
  3. Use the Buddy System: If your child walks or bikes to school, it’ s a good idea for road safety and just for general safety that they not make the commute on their own. Find a friend or a commute buddy so that they can make the trip together and in proper safety. G-d forbid something should happen or they go missing. The buddy system will ensure a faster notice period should something wrong on the commute to/from school. It’s easy and just makes sense.

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One of the hardest things for people to understand in Ontario is how our No Fault system of car insurance works.

Ask 10 drivers how their no fault accident benefits work, or how no fault car insurance works, you’ll get 10 different answers. All of them will likely be wrong. Ask 10 lawyers who don’t practice in the field of persona injury law, you’ll probably get the same wrong answers! Even funnier is if you ask 10 different politicians, the ones who actually passed the laws to create no fault accident benefit insurance in Ontario, and they won’t know either.

The only people who truly know how no fault insurance and accident benefits work are personal injury lawyers, insurance defence lawyers, people who work for insurance companies and those service providers who routinely bill insurers through IEs or through OCF claim forms.

What people have a hard time understanding, is that after an accident involving the “use or operation of a motor vehicle” , they will have TWO SEPARATE CLAIMS. The first claim is the claim for no fault accident benefits. These claims are guaranteed provided there are no policy breach issues. This first accident benefit claim is against your OWN INSURER, regardless of fault. If you didn’t have car insurance at the time of the accident, then there are loss transfer provisions under the Insurance Act which create a duty to defend or respond to the claim from another insurer, or, in the last case scenario, from the Ontario Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. These accident benefits will cover such things as medical/rehab benefits, attendant care benefits, non earner benefits, income replacement benefits and out of pocket expenses related to the car accident. Accident Benefits do NOT cover pain and suffering.

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