Insurance Help Canada

My Accident: The Recovery Continues

Claudio — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:28:34 +0000

it has been a while since I have written a blog posting. I have discovered that life is extremely difficult when recovering from a car accident. In my last post, i wrote that my jeep was written off. Its July 21 and I am finally replacing it!! It has been a interesting journey back in time as I drove different cars some with a/c and others without!!

As i struggle to put my life in order one of the things that i needed was a car. The insurance company rented a vehicle for me for a couple of weeks as they determined whether or not my jeep was repairable. They put me in a car of like kind and quality but i will admit, it was creepy being in that rental Jeep.

Yes, i knew where everything was and yes it was new and shiny but i didn’t feel safe. Most of the functions I took for granted weren’t there so I had to divert my attention to the controls to see what I was doing from adjusting the air to changing the radio station. Sometimes while waiting at a light, i would look at the car and picture my accident again and think back to what my car looked like

After the rental was returned, i borrowed cars for a week, rented a vehicle for another week then graciously accepted a loaner from my godfather which i just returned yesterday and will help him sell.

My accident and subsequent recovery period has been extremely stressful. I have found it difficult to concentrate and extremely difficult to replace my truck. I had been driving a Jeep product since 2000. I was very comfortable in that car. The accident shook me out of my comfort.

I will applaud my truck for keeping me so safe and I thank my lucky stars that i walked away. I hope that I don’t ever have to live through that again. In the meantime, i want to post a couple of pics of my Jeep… before and after.

until next time…

Accident and Injury: My Experience – The Write-off

Claudio — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:44:32 +0000

I received the call today telling me that the insurer wasn’t going to fix my jeep. I am devastated. I loved my truck. Now i am being given a dollar value to the vehicle that i have already built so many memories with. Yes I know it is just a truck, but it was my truck with all its quirks.

I now have to begin the search for a replacement – what a pain! i don’t want to get into debt for a new truck but at the same time I would like to improve a bit on the vehicle that I own – is that too much to ask?

I am searching the autotrader, friends of friends, the usa and all i find is nice cars with super high kms…

Am I stuck in the same truck for life? Will i ever get out?

The fact that my truck fit my needs so well is fantastic. I also suffer from the fact that it saved my life and at the same time, i cannot seem to look at another one the same.

it brings back memories of that terrible day when my sense of security was taken from me. Yes it may sound a little whiny but it is the truth.

I wonder if I can overcome that feeling of dread and get back into a similar vehicle or do i have to change things up…

Either way, i loved my HEMI….

Accident and Injury – My Experience

Claudio — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:47:14 +0000

I am shaken up. I am tired. I feel emotionally distant – as if my emotions burned out. I am in more pain now as my muscles start to stiffen up. I used to work out 4 to 5 days a week, now I have to relax and rest. I led an active lifestyle, now i have to relax. I am fit and now I am in pain. I cannot pick up my kids, i have to go down to the ground to hug them. I am sad. i am frustrated. I have to move forward yet i find that it is overwhelming.

I have been evaluated by 3 professionals: An RMT who will be providing me massage therapy and a treatment plan, my family doctor who diagnosed me with whiplash 3? and a chiro who will be helping organize my recovery.

I have cancelled my weekly hockey power skating and game, and working out has stopped (my modified p90X routine).

I have watched movies, made arrangements for work and now writing on my blog.

The pain has increased. I now feel it in my back, neck as well and the pins and needles are ever present.

My Road to recovery starts Monday with Counselling. Tuesday I see the Chiro and the RMT.

I am determined to recover. I want to be back on my feet - i want to wrestle and hold my boys in my arms… I won’t let this get me down…

Accident and Injury – my Experience

Claudio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:01:38 +0000

Saturday Night a driver decided to drive carelessly. He decided to speed. I believe he also decided to drink but i cannot verify this. On that same night, i decided to head into my office to work on my accounting for my 2009 taxes. I decided to leave at a certain time and I decided to take certain roads.

All these choices and life paths joined together in a life alterning moment. The guy speeding down the road drove right through a red light and into my Jeep.

Over the next little while, my articles are going to focus on my rehab and recovery. on this accident and the aftermath.

Luckily for me, he hit my front quarter-panel (driver side) and did not hit the door… I would have been much worse off.

There were many people asking if we were okay but surprisingly few witnesses stepped up to report. Luckily I have an eyewitness that saw it all : )

I never had a chance to react. I entered the intersection, saw a car and before I could say “oh sh*t” i was hit, spun around, hit again then pushed eastbound into the intersection.

With a surprising calmness, i turned off my car, unbuckled my seatbelt and limped out of the car - adrenaline rushing. I was very lucky not to have any broken bones. The other car (a chrysler 300) was totalled. I think the owner asked if I was okay, but i cannot recall. I do remember him lamenting that he “mashed up” his car…i wanted to tell him that he “mashed up” my life! I wanted to tell him that he and his stupid decision was only a fraction of a second of depriving my sons of their father for the rest of their lives. I was so angry and all i could do was listen to my father and the paramedics and sit down on the opposite side of the road and thank the lord that I was alive.

The officer arrived on scene and after checking in on us started to gather the story. The guy confessed to running a red…the officer was shocked (perhaps too shocked to give him a breath test or perhaps he did not have the gear)

my friend then later my dad and brother came on the scene to take care of my belongings as I was taken to the hospital and x-rayed for damage.

The emergency workers were great - police, fire, ambulance and emergency all worked well and efficiently to treat me and to make me feel safe.

I was x-rayed for breaks but I didn’t suffer any.

At this point, i have a sore shoulder, knee and pins and needles in my finger tips and toes… I’m told it gets worse…

Employees: Your source of revenue and potential claims

Claudio — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:32:29 +0000

If you are a growing company or an established company, at some point in your business cycle you will likely have to deal with employee relations. As part of your risk management strategy, you should consider including an employee manual outlining responsibilities and duties of the management and of the employee. When managing your employee risk, we often don’t consider things like wrongful dismissal and discrimination because we think the person is part of the team and understands the company and the people. Your commercial general liability insurance policy doesn’t cover claims of this nature – rather you need Employment Practices Liability. Take a look at a few scenarios when this type of policy comes into play…

Ms. Jones, the only female employee at Friendly Motors Dealership, had difficulties at work. The other staff at Friendly Motors, ten men, often engaged in “locker room” talk, which Ms. Jones found offensive. In addition, she believed that less-qualified staff were promoted ahead of her, which she attributed to a policy of discrimination against

women in the workplace.

She felt that the atmosphere at Friendly Motors made it impossible for her to perform her job as frequent complaints to management went unanswered and that she felt she would never be promoted ahead of a male colleague no matter how qualified she may be. Ms. Jones commenced a lawsuit against the directors of Friendly Motors, alleging wrongful failure to promote her and failure to address the workplace harassment at Friendly Motors.

The directors thought she was wrong and was treated fairly not harassed at all… They decided to defend the action because they had coverage for Employment practices on their Directors and Officer’s Insurance policy.

Whether or not Ms Jones was correct or the company was correct doesn’t matter. The point is that a claim was made and these claims cost money to defend and settle. How will you pay for it? How will your corporation pay for it?

You are running a business and need to ensure the right protection to suit the risk. It is very easy to keep chugging away at the business and to pretend that everything will take care of itself. The business is made up of employees, with emotions, opinions, feeling and rights – take care to protect it!

Health Spending Accounts can help Canadians stretch their health-care dollars

Claudio — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:29:13 +0000

Here is a fantastic article about health spending accounts from the Canadian Associated Press. As part of your risk management portfolio, a health spending account allows for tax savings as well as keeping you and your family healthy!

Thu Feb 4, 3:08 PM

Malcolm Morrison, The Canadian Press

TORONTO – The health spending account may be one of the best-kept secrets when it comes to tax-free breaks.

These accounts were first introduced in 1986 by Canada Revenue Agency, aimed at both the self-employed and employees at companies. Essentially, they are like a special savings account where a capped amount of money is deposited to be used exclusively for health issues, everything from dental expenses to eyeglasses, and is a non-taxable benefit for the employee.

Employer contributions to an HSA do not constitute a taxable benefit and all claims paid are tax-free benefits (except for Quebec residents). The HSA can help self-employed Canadians deal with health costs and assist companies in focusing their health-care spending on their workers.

“We think it’s of tremendous value for people to be putting money aside for their own health-care needs and wants,” said Marla Schwartz, co-president of Benecaid, an employee benefits provider that specializes in health spending accounts.

“Basically, what you’re doing is you’re taking your out-of-pocket, after-tax expenses and converting them into pre-tax expenses.”

Let’s say you’ve quit a job where you had a generous health benefits package, including dental and eye care. You can’t take advantage of your previous group benefits plan but you can arrange to have money deducted from your earnings on a pre-tax basis.

But you must use a third-party to administer the benefit, like Benecaid, in order to take advantage of the tax-free status.

This is not an insurance plan – you still have to pay the dentist for your filling, but the money comes from pre-tax dollars.

And there are caps on contributions.

“It’s $1,500 per adult covered by the plan in contribution per calendar year and $750 per dependent child under the age of 18,” said Schwartz.

The contributions can be used for a wide variety of medical issues, including such things as routine dental expenses, eye exams, glasses and dental bridgework. The money can also be used for things that aren’t typically covered in traditional health benefit plans, such as dental implants.

“Predominantly people use it as their form of self-directed health benefit plan,” said Schwartz.

And just because you’re working for yourself and no longer part of a group plan, you can take the money in your account and use it to buy insurance.

“Just because you’re using it for a self-directed benefit plan doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take precautions and protect yourself and your family against any unforeseen and or catastrophic risks,” she said.

“So you may buy insurance to provide that protection and pay for it through the plan.”

There is already a mechanism in place for Canadian taxpayers to get a tax credit for medical expenses called the Medical Expense Tax Credit. Only expenses in excess of the lesser of $2,011 or three per cent of net income can be claimed. The lowest tax rate is applied to the medical expenses to determine the amount of the tax credit.

But Schwartz argues it can be more effective to use your Health Spending Account.

“Let’s say whether you’re incorporated or unincorporated, you put $3,000 into the health spending account for 2010. If you have a $1,000 medical bill, you would try and deduct the $1,000 medical bill from your tax return – but you would not meet the minimum threshold for the medical tax credit… so there’s no benefit to you.”

Schwartz says Benecaid also has many companies as clients who want to offer a more personalized level of employee health benefits. In other words, instead of paying a flat premium to an insurance company for a set menu of benefits, a company pays in money to individual HSA accounts.

That means that an employee who has perfect eyesight and doesn’t need a vision-care option could instead opt to pay for a smoking cessation program.

“It’s called consumer-driven health care,” she said.

“Premiums are driven by claims. In this case, you have budget certainty. You know exactly what your health plan is going to cost you as an employer.”

Professional Liability Insurance a.k.a Errors and Omission Insurance

Claudio — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:23:08 +0000

I often get inquiries about professional liability from companies and individuals who find themselves in the situation where they have never had the coverage before and are now required to have it due to contract requirements. They often do not seen the need for the coverage since a claim has never happened to them – believe me, i understand this completely! The simple fact of the matter is different. We live in a litigious world and as professionals we are often held to a higher standard for our specialized knowledge and thus the need for errors and omissions insurance liability coverage.

For those of us who are unbelievers, that hold the attitude that it will never happen to us, here are some claim examples that we can turn to in order to demonstrate that errors and omissions liability insurance (a.k.a professional liability insurance) is not only relevant in our lives but sorely needed!

Example 1:

An auctioneer was hired to auction off a large estate containing several unique pieces. When the auction failed to bring what the heirs of the estate had hoped for, they sued the auctioneer claiming that he had inadequately advertised the auction by not listing some of the key pieces in promotional brochures for the auction. Compensatory damages would be covered on an errors and omissions insurance policy

Example 2:

A management consultant for a trade association provided services that included event management related to an international seminar hosted by the trade association. During the course of the event preparation, errors were made in the advertising documentation sent to the participants relating to the scheduling and the topics to be addressed by the seminar’s speakers. Consequently, all the advertising documentation had to be reprinted and resent, which generated substantial additional costs. The trade association sought to hold the management consultant liability for the errors and commenced a lawsuit for damages consisting of the cost of reprinting the advertising documents

Professional errors and omissions is a real risk for anyone performing a specialized service. Whether you have ever had a claim in the past or not, the future will be full of litigation as more and more people are aware of their rights and seek compensatory damages for errors. Errors and Omission liability insurance forms part of your defense against such claims.

Parent’s Waivers – Not the protection you think

Claudio — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:17:24 +0000

How many times to we sign waivers on behalf of our children? Waivers for road trips, waivers to participate in sports, waivers to attend the theatre. In a recent publication from Elliot Special Risk, there was an article and a new precedent that has been established in Canadian courts that will directly affect business owners like you and your business insurance policy…

Karate Kid can sue

A recent decision by the British Columbia Supreme Court states that parents do not have the right to waive their child’s right to sue by signing a release on the child’s behalf.

Victor Wong was 12 years old when his mother enrolled him and his two brothers at Lok’s Martial Arts Centre in Richmond, B.C. A requirement for enrolment was that the boys’ mother sign the “conditions of membership and release” form. She claims that she did not read it carefully or fully understand it, but she knew that if she did not sign it, her sons would not be allowed to enrol.

Wong, now 20, alleges that during a sparring match at the Centre, he was violently thrown to the floor, fracturing his arm and leaving him partially disabled. He is now suing the school, the sparring partner and the school owner, Michael Lok.

The defense argued that the claim should be dismissed because Wong’s mother signed the waiver when he started. Wong said that he did not sign a waiver of his legal rights and did not authorize his mother to waive any rights on his behalf.

The major significance of this case is that no prior case has ever properly addressed the issue of whether a parent can effectively execute a pre-tort release on behalf of a minor.

The Court found that Section 40 of the infant’s act allows parents and legal guardians the right to sign waivers for such things as consent to health care and school trips and it doesn’t permit a parent or guardian to bind an infant to an agreement waiving their rights to sue…

This is big for your business insurance policy as a client could sue and the settlement could be huge (considering the courts are awarding bigger and bigger settlements all the time – the latest was $18 million) . How does that $2,000,000 business liability limit sound now?

Liability Limits – More examples why yours should be higher!

Claudio — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:12:04 +0000

Many people I find are always requesting the absolute minimum liability limit for their professional liability, business insurance, commercial auto insurance or personal home insurance and auto insurance policies. I find it a challenge to express to people that they need higher and higher levels of liability. Many businesses will increase their liability limit simply due to contract requirements such as a lease agreement. I try to use examples to demonstrate that liability limits are often not enough and to show that settlements are getting bigger and bigger in Canada and any amount over your liability limit is yours!

The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a $17-million award—the largest personal injury award in Canadian history—to a young man who was seriously injured in an automobile accident in June 2000.

Rob Marcoccia, 20, was driving straight through an intersection on the red light when he collided with an oncoming furniture truck making a left turn. Marcoccia suffered serious and permanent injuries, including profound brain damage, and will require 24-hour care for the remainder of his life.

The lower court decided that the truck driver was 61-per-cent at fault because he was making the left turn and Marcoccia was 39-per-cent to blame because he sped up instead of stopping when he saw the amber light.

The defendant’s truck was insured for relatively low limits, and the primary insurer settled for policy limits and partial indemnity costs, about $1.25 million in all. The furniture company had already agreed to pay $1 million. The remainder of the 61 per cent was to be paid by Ford Credit, the owner/lessor of the truck.

Ford Credit argued that it was “perverse” for the jury to find the driver of the truck at fault and to award so much for Marcoccia’s future care. At the time, Ontario’s “joint and several liability” doctrine made the leasing company jointly liable with the driver, so the majority of this award fell to Ford Credit. Ontario and several other provinces have since introduced a damages cap to insulate vehicle lessors from deep-pocket exposures like this.

It is likely that this case will find its way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

You can read this verdict in its entirety at http://www.ontario courts.on.ca/decisions/2009/april/ 2009ONCA0317.htm.

Working out and insuring yourself – hand in hand protection

Claudio — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:50:33 +0000

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle not only helps you live better but it also helps you qualify for cheaper insurance rates for life and critical illness. I recieved an email blast with some tips for working out in spite of a busy schedule:

Work out at work:

Did you know that more than 15 million Canadians spend half of their waking hours at work and a full 51% participate in no physical activities in their leisure time?

According the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, 63% of Canadians are not active enough to achieve health benefits, which leaves them at risk for heart and other diseases, disability and premature death. Now that many of us sit for long periods of time either commuting to and from work or while at work, it’s time to get up and use the time you spend at work to get moving.

The benefits to being physically active at work are not only good for you, but also your co-workers. According to Health Canada employers that have instituted or supported workplace activity programs have noticed improved morale, a sense of well-being, higher energy levels and improved team building among their employees. Talk to your supervisor about these benefits. Health Canada recommends adults be active 30 to 60 minutes a day, most days of the week. No need to do it all at once. Just try to be active in small increments throughout your day.

Here are 13 ways to get active during your work day, even if you only have 5, 10 or 30 minutes.

Got 5 minutes?

* During breaks, use the bathroom on another floor or one that’s farther away.

* Get up and get water from the cooler or kitchen in another department.

Got 10 minutes?

* If your company has space available, or in your office with the door closed, do a quick routine, alternating between marching, heel presses, jumping jacks and side touches.

* Go to the coffee shop next door or across the street for a break instead of heading to your workplace lounge.

* Try doing stretches at your workstation. It’s a great stress reliever.

* Book a walking meeting with a co-worker.

* Create a strength routine at your workstation. During your lunch hour, warm up by marching in place, then do squats, lunges and push-ups, using your desk or the wall to make your body strong.

* Offer to run extra errands on your breaks to burn more calories than you would sitting at your desk.

Got 30 minutes?

* Over lunch, try a “walk-run,” alternating 2 minutes of walking with 2 minutes of running.

* Enlist 10 or more co-workers, book a meeting room, and hire a yoga or tai chi instructor.

* Recruit walking club members at lunchtime and walk a different route every day.

* Volunteer for field projects that get you out of the office altogether and require you to move more.

* Sign up at a gym near your workplace for lunch-hour aerobics, treadmill, stationary bicycle or elliptical workout.

For more workplace health ideas, go to Canadian Centre for Occupational Health website.

Before starting any activity program, be sure to talk to your doctor or other healthcare professional.

This physical activity column was written by a certified personal trainer and fitness instructor and reviewed by Foundation experts.

Posted: October 1, 2009 http://www.heartandstroke.com