I frequently hear the complaint that "OWCP lost something that I sent in to my file." In a federal workers compensation claim, OWCP scans everything that you send them. If its got your file number on it, it is usually in your file. The folks who do the scanning are contractors, not your claims examiner. Anything you send to OWCP should have your file number clearly marked at the top right so that it is easy for someone to associate it with your file.
When items are scanned to your file, they are "coded" as correspondence, medical report, CA-1032 form, etc. A very common reason for a document to supposedly not be in your file is that it was incorrectly coded. For instance, it appears to me that about 75% of the time when one of my clients gets a nasty letter saying that the annual CA-1032 form was not received that is not actually true. OWCP did receive the CA-1032, but when it was coded, it was listed as correspondence or something other than being the CA-1032. Then, when your claims examiner reviewed incoming mail to see if it was listed as being received, since its coded wrong, it does not show up in the index to your file as being received.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Queen's Park Update
A surprise majority for the Liberals in the recent election is expected to set a different tone in Queen's Park after almost 3 years of minority government. A minority government is all about survival, there is no long-term planning. The Liberals could not focus on deficit reduction, job creation, pensions or stabilizing the auto insurance product without the confidence of having the support of the Legislature.
Despite campaigning under an activist agenda, the Liberals are now signalling that they are serious about deficit reduction. Deb Matthews has been appointed President/Chair of Treasury Board/Management Board which traditionally has been a responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. Treasury Board is not well known outside of government but it is a powerful central agency that manages the fiscal plan of the government including all government spending and approving labour agreements. A very powerful body.
Charles Sousa continues as Minister of Finance and appears to still be responsible for the auto insurance file. His Deputy, Steve Orsini has been promoted to Secretary of Cabinet which is head of the Ontario Public Service. His appointment is intended to also signal that the Liberals are serious about deficit reduction. He replaces Peter Wallace also preceded Orsini as Deputy Minister of Finance.
There has been some restructuring in the Ministry of Finance. The Insurance and Cooperatives Policy Unit (which includes auto insurance policy) and the Deposit Taking Institutions Unit of the Industrial and Financial Services Branch will be reconstituted as the Financial Institutions Policy Branch. They will continue to be led by Alvaro del Castillo. Tthe Financial Institutions Policy Branch will join the Securities Reform Division (SRD) reporting to Assistant Deputy Minister Frank Allen who replaces Pat Deutscher. To better reflect its broader mandate the SRD will be renamed the Financial Services Policy Division.
Next week, new MPPs will return to Queen's Park to elect a new Speaker of the Legislature (July 2), hear a new Speech from the Throne (July 3), then debate a re-introduced provincial budget on July 14. It is expected that shortly after that the Legislature will recess for the summer. That might mean that the reintroduction of industry supported bills such as Bills 171 and 189 might have to wait until the fall.
Despite campaigning under an activist agenda, the Liberals are now signalling that they are serious about deficit reduction. Deb Matthews has been appointed President/Chair of Treasury Board/Management Board which traditionally has been a responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. Treasury Board is not well known outside of government but it is a powerful central agency that manages the fiscal plan of the government including all government spending and approving labour agreements. A very powerful body.
Charles Sousa continues as Minister of Finance and appears to still be responsible for the auto insurance file. His Deputy, Steve Orsini has been promoted to Secretary of Cabinet which is head of the Ontario Public Service. His appointment is intended to also signal that the Liberals are serious about deficit reduction. He replaces Peter Wallace also preceded Orsini as Deputy Minister of Finance.
There has been some restructuring in the Ministry of Finance. The Insurance and Cooperatives Policy Unit (which includes auto insurance policy) and the Deposit Taking Institutions Unit of the Industrial and Financial Services Branch will be reconstituted as the Financial Institutions Policy Branch. They will continue to be led by Alvaro del Castillo. Tthe Financial Institutions Policy Branch will join the Securities Reform Division (SRD) reporting to Assistant Deputy Minister Frank Allen who replaces Pat Deutscher. To better reflect its broader mandate the SRD will be renamed the Financial Services Policy Division.
Next week, new MPPs will return to Queen's Park to elect a new Speaker of the Legislature (July 2), hear a new Speech from the Throne (July 3), then debate a re-introduced provincial budget on July 14. It is expected that shortly after that the Legislature will recess for the summer. That might mean that the reintroduction of industry supported bills such as Bills 171 and 189 might have to wait until the fall.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
New Practice Directions
As of July 1, 2014 there are new Practice Directions that come into effect across Ontario. There is a new province-wide direction and well as new ones for each judicial region.
Here is the link to the regional directions:
Here is the link to the provincial direction:
Here is the link to the regional directions:
It is important to be aware of these Practice Directions because some of them change the requirements under the Rules; for example, whereas the Rules do not require factums for each motion, the Practice Direction says factums are required for all long motions.
Monday, June 23, 2014
OWCP and new injuries - send your medical records directly to OWCP
When you suffer a work injury, it is your burden to provide sufficient information to document how your job caused your injury. You need to collect all of your medical records, mark your file number on them, and send them all directly to OWCP. If someone at your employing agency instructs you to send your records through them, you may do so, but do not rely on that person to submit your records to OWCP for you. The same goes for your physicians. Even if those offices tell you that they know what to do, it is crucial that you still collect all of your records, mark your file number on the top right of each page, and send them directly to OWCP yourself.
The most common reason for an initial claim to be denied is that the medical information that would have been enough to get your file approved did not get into the OWCP file because the injured worker thought someone else was supposed to do that for them.
The most common reason for an initial claim to be denied is that the medical information that would have been enough to get your file approved did not get into the OWCP file because the injured worker thought someone else was supposed to do that for them.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Rate Evasion Is The Latest Type of Fraud To Hit The GTA
Registering and insuring your vehicle using your parent's address in a neighbouring city might seem like a clever way to save money on your auto insurance rates.
Doing so can save hundreds of dollars. Using an online quoting system, I found that a 30 year old man, driving a 10 year old Toyota with no tickets or accidents would pay $1,998 if he lived in North York. Change the address to one in Barrie and the rate drops to $1,489. That's a $500 difference.
While fibbing on an address may seem harmless enough, it's a practice known as rate evasion, and it's considered a form of insurance fraud.
With rate evasion, people claim to live in another city or that their car is garaged there, in order to pay lower insurance rates. If you say you live in Barrie but actually live in Toronto, you're posing a risk in Toronto but you're not paying for that risk. Toronto residents whose vehicles are registered in the right location end up covering some of your share of the costs by paying higher auto insurance rates.
Rate evasion occurs in regions with high auto insurance rates. It's difficult to detect in the GTA since vehicle plates do not reveal where your car is registered. In some urban areas in the U.S. it is a little more obvious. In certain areas of New Jersey, especially northern, urban areas, and the southern part of the state bordering Pennsylvania, it's not uncommon to see plenty of cars with out-of-state license plates regularly parked in people's driveways and on residential streets. Recently I was involved in a minor collision and the other driver provided me with his driver's licence, vehicle registration and insurance card. Each document had a different address. It made me just a little suspicious.
Auto insurance is a pooling system where everyone pays premiums and the pool of funds are used by an insurer to pay claims to those who have accidents. Everyone is rated based on their risk profile which includes where you live. To certain extent there is always going to be some form of cross-subsidization based on the rules an insurer follows. For example, an insurer cannot determine premiums based on whether the policyholder has access to collateral benefits from a workplace (e.g., supplementary health benefits). Those with access to collateral benefits are going to claim less than those without yet they may be rated the same, all things being equal.
When consumers try to beat the system by registering their vehicle at a false address, they are being cross-subsidized by other policyholders. The difference is they are operating outside of the rules and the law. Therefore, it's fraud. Still, high premiums in the GTA will continue to tempt some drivers.
Doing so can save hundreds of dollars. Using an online quoting system, I found that a 30 year old man, driving a 10 year old Toyota with no tickets or accidents would pay $1,998 if he lived in North York. Change the address to one in Barrie and the rate drops to $1,489. That's a $500 difference.
While fibbing on an address may seem harmless enough, it's a practice known as rate evasion, and it's considered a form of insurance fraud.
With rate evasion, people claim to live in another city or that their car is garaged there, in order to pay lower insurance rates. If you say you live in Barrie but actually live in Toronto, you're posing a risk in Toronto but you're not paying for that risk. Toronto residents whose vehicles are registered in the right location end up covering some of your share of the costs by paying higher auto insurance rates.
Rate evasion occurs in regions with high auto insurance rates. It's difficult to detect in the GTA since vehicle plates do not reveal where your car is registered. In some urban areas in the U.S. it is a little more obvious. In certain areas of New Jersey, especially northern, urban areas, and the southern part of the state bordering Pennsylvania, it's not uncommon to see plenty of cars with out-of-state license plates regularly parked in people's driveways and on residential streets. Recently I was involved in a minor collision and the other driver provided me with his driver's licence, vehicle registration and insurance card. Each document had a different address. It made me just a little suspicious.
Auto insurance is a pooling system where everyone pays premiums and the pool of funds are used by an insurer to pay claims to those who have accidents. Everyone is rated based on their risk profile which includes where you live. To certain extent there is always going to be some form of cross-subsidization based on the rules an insurer follows. For example, an insurer cannot determine premiums based on whether the policyholder has access to collateral benefits from a workplace (e.g., supplementary health benefits). Those with access to collateral benefits are going to claim less than those without yet they may be rated the same, all things being equal.
When consumers try to beat the system by registering their vehicle at a false address, they are being cross-subsidized by other policyholders. The difference is they are operating outside of the rules and the law. Therefore, it's fraud. Still, high premiums in the GTA will continue to tempt some drivers.
Insurance News - Friday, June 20, 2014
Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Friday, June 20, 2014:
- IBC will be lobbying for more auto insurance reforms in in Ontario now that there is a majority government.
- Why it's so easy to steal from insurance companies – and what to do about it.
- Should Canada revisit credit rating for auto underwriting?
- Auto insurance claims drop with Honda collision warning system - a taste of what driverless cars can offer.
- So what happens when two self-driving cars are at an intersection and their clocks tell them both they arrived first?
- FSCO has revised the Standard Benefit Statement that insurers must send to claimants every 2 months beginning Sept 1.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
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