WHAT'S NEW
Auto Insurance Changes
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CHANGES TO YOUR AUTO INSURANCE POLICY
With the changes that came into effect September 1st, 2010, are you adequately protected?
You may be wondering why we are letting you know about changes to your car insurance!
As you are aware, we treat people who have sustained serious brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations, complex orthopaedic injuries, and other catastrophic injuries in car accidents. Some of these clients were drivers, some were passengers, some were pedestrians, some were cyclists. But all of them were well functioning individuals until a completely unpredictable accident changed their lives forever. Especially brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries, are not like broken legs. Our brains control every single physical and mental function we perform. Trying to “fix” a damaged brain can take years of therapy.
This year, the Ontario government announced sweeping changes to the auto insurance system. Our government is responding to insurance industry concerns about profitability, and has dramatically cut benefits paid to rehabilitate people who are seriously injured in car accidents. These cuts took effect on September 1, 2010.
For injuries prior to September 1st, 2010, your auto insurance policy covered assessments and diagnostics plus up to $100,000 in therapy/rehabilitation funding over 10 years. This coverage is important because there are next to no rehabilitation services available through hospitals and home care anymore.
Under the new policy, individuals’ assessment and treatment costs together cannot exceed $50,000 over 10 years. This represents a 70% cut to your benefits.
While $50,000 may sound like a lot of money, that is just $5,000-10,000 per year, depending on how many years of therapy you need. If you are bedridden, unable to work or go to school, unable to look after your children, etc., you may need the services of a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, chiropractor, psychologist, etc. Having $600/month to fund your entire rehabilitation needs is grossly insufficient.
As of September 1st, if you want to maintain the level of coverage that you now have, you will have to exercise your option to “buy up” - that is, to purchase a higher level of coverage. You can choose to purchase $100,000 or $1,000,000 in rehabilitation benefits. It is our strong recommendation that you purchase $1,000,000 in coverage. Relatively speaking, this add-on costs a pittance above your premium but gives you crucial rehabilitation services should you ever be injured in an accident.
Right now, when you buy your policy, there is a premium for “liability” and a premium for “accident benefits”:
- The “liability” amount is the amount you are purchasing to pay for someone else’s rehabilitation if they sue you because of an accident you were involved in.
- The “accident benefits” is the amount you are purchasing to pay for your own rehabilitation.
Most insurance brokers make sure you purchase at least $1,000,000 in liability to cover someone else’s rehabilitation. However, many accidents do not meet the criteria for a lawsuit, so you cannot count on being able to sue someone for your rehabilitation funds. And even if you can sue, you will have to wait years to get that funding, all the while being unable to perform your usual activities of daily living.
If you are willing to pay higher premiums to cover someone else’s rehabilitation, shouldn’t you also be willing to pay more to cover your own?
Please feel free to contact us via email at nrs@neurorehab.ca if you have any questions, or visit the ACMRP* website for ongoing updates.
*Ref: The Alliance of Community Medical & Rehabilitation Providers (ACMRP) www.ontariorehaballiance.com - a coalition of over 70 organizations in Ontario providing direct clinical services to victims of motor vehicle accidents and employing physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, chiropractors, social workers, psychologists, case managers and family physicians.
Here’s a quick recap of the adopted regulations:
- Effective date of the new regs scheduled for September 1st, 2010
- Med/Rehab limit reduced from $100K to $50K. Section 24 assessment costs are included within the $50K limit. Consumers have the option of buying additional coverage up to $100K or $1 million.
- Limit of $2000 per medical assessment for S.24 or S.42
- In-home assessments only for attendant care and home modifications
- Attendant Care Form 1s to be completed only by OTs and nurses
- Attendant care benefit limit for non-CAT persons is reduced by 50% to a limit of $36K (option to buy up to $72K will be available)
- Housekeeping and Care-giving will be optional benefits
- Homemaking and Care-giving benefit will remain status quo for Catastrophically injured
- Rebuttals are eliminated
- Single limb amputees are within the CAT designation; further consultation around the CAT definitions are pending
- Minor sprains and strains limited to $3,500 in med/rehab and assessments; there will be an "escape clause" for those folks where it is determined that they need more
- Innocent accident victims will have only basic coverage even if person who struck them has upgraded options
- Re OCF-18 (Request for Assessment or Treatment funding): insurer response is now 10 days for both.
- Tort unchanged unless the consumer buys up to reduce threshold from $30K to $20K
- Costs of future care cost analysis not recoverable through the SABS.
