Disability law practitioners need to understand how the COVID pandemic has changed the overall health of Canadians, which in turn has affected the types of long-term disability (LTD) insurance claims you can expect to be handling.Since the appearance of COVID-19, through lockdowns and into the return to “normal” life, the types and volumes of disability claims have changed significantly. Mental
If a “driverless” vehicle with a person at the wheel injures or kills someone, who – or what – is at fault?This is no longer science fiction or a mind experiment. Forecasts project 4.5 million self-driving cars on USA roads by 2035, which could translate to 500 thousand such vehicles in Canada. The Victoria Transportation Policy Institute in BC predicts
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) regulates the billing and business practices of licensed Service Providers (SPs) who receive direct payment from auto insurers under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) through the Health Claims for Auto Insurance (HCAI) billing system. SPs include clinics providing medical and rehabilitation services, and assessments and examinations providers. All SPs must submit
Since 2019 the World Health Organization has recognized chronic pain as a disease, but insurance companies have not kept up with the times. This is important knowledge for personal injury lawyers who have many plaintiff clients involved in MVA and disability cases who suffer long-term pain.Pain is chronic when it lasts more than three months. Chronic pain affects women slightly
Personal injury lawyers should be concerned about the growing market concentration of large auto insurance companies, the largest insurers’ propensity to litigate, and their influence in the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). Big insurers keep getting bigger and more litigious About 20 years ago, the top ten property & casualty insurers accounted for approximately 10% of the total
Personal injury plaintiff counsel assessing the merits of a motor vehicle accident (MVA) can find the case complicated if a rented vehicle is involved. Whether the injured person was the driver or passenger in a rented vehicle, or was struck by a rental, raises a host of issues. In Canada, purchasing additional auto insurance from a rental company is not
We have written in the past about the tribunals in British Columbia and Ontario that manage some aspects of insurance disputes involving motor vehicle accident (MVA) personal injuries. BC’s tribunal has run into repeated constitutional difficulties, while Ontario’s has avoided this so far. British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) was set up in 2016 to remove some small claims from
The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) is a national association of provincial and territorial governments. They recently released two related reports: their Annual Statement on Market Conduct (ASMC) and their Cooperative Fair Treatment of Customers (FTC) Review. These lay out the standards expected of insurance companies in dealing with their customers and provide data on how many insurers are
Disability lawyers can expect continued demand in 2022 from various COVID-related issues. We have recently written articles about the denial of disability insurance claims related to “long-haul” COVID-19 symptoms. The “shadow” pandemic includes other lingering health issues that will affect short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) insurance claims. According to the 2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey, more than half
The Insurance Bureau of Canada recently released their annual fact book. This includes a cross-Canada comparison of auto insurance systems, summarized here plus our update for Alberta. Quebec and Manitoba have government-run pure no-fault insurance regimes, with no right to sue for pain and suffering, nor for economic loss in excess of no-fault benefits. British Columbia’s new no-fault system
