Modifications To Your Home After An Accident
People injured in motor vehicle accidents in Ontario oftentimes qualify for statutory accident benefits ( sometimes called Accident Benefits, or ABs or SABS or no - fault benefits ).
Injured people, especially those who suffer flow impairments, recurrently face the defiance of being discharged from a rehabilitation centre, ( The Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre, The Ottawa Hospital - Governmental Campus or Elizabeth Bruyere, in Eastern Ontario ) only to return to their cubbyhole that cannot accommodate them.
This problem is addressed, in subdivision, by the Accident Benefits which encircle home modifications / renovations as some of the benefits available to injured people in Ontario.
THE STATUTORY ACCIDENT Blessing SCHEME
Generally, people injured in Ontario car accidents can earn accident benefits. The benefits are usually paid by their own car insurance company. However, the scheme also provides coverage for people who do not have their own insurance.
Usually, statutory accident benefits are ace to supersede forfeited remuneration, standard care, rehabilitation and medical needs as well as death benefits.
There is a section in the Accident Benefits regime ( section 15 ) that says that " all reasonable and necessary " rehabilitation expenses are to be paid. The mission of the rehabilitation expenses are to reduce or eliminate the impact of a disability caused by the accident. Home renovations, assistive devices, workplace adaptations and vehicle modifications are all items which may be mystical under section 15 of the Accident Free lunch regime for " rehabilitation " benefits.
The insurance company also states that an insurance company must pay the injured person for all impartial and necessary home modifications and home devices, including communication aids.
The statutory accident interest regulation permits an injured person to buy a new home to reconciled his or her needs where that is the possibility that makes more sense than renocating an existing crib. Having oral that, the money alloted for the purchase of a home cannot be greater than the estimated cost of any renos that would theoretically be needed to appropriate the injured person ' s requirements.
If the existing home is incapable of being modified to accommodate the injured person, the only limit on the amount available to purchase a new home is the policy limits for this association of benefits.
WHAT ARE THE POLICY LIMITS? HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE TO SPEND?
The medical and rehabilitation benefits are supposed to pay for all impartial and necessary expenses that arise whereas of the accident.
Home altering comes under the medical / rehabilitation cluster.
For the end of calculating how much money is available, the medical benefits and the rehabilitation benefits are combined.
If the injured person did not suffer a " catastrophic impairment " as that is described in the Accident Gain regime, the total amount of the medical / rehabilitation betterment is $100, 000 and the benefits expire after 10 caducity from the date of the accident
If the injured person did suffer a " catastrophic impairment " the medical / rehabilitation gravy increases to $1 Million and last for the person ' s entire life.
HOW DO YOU GET THE BENEFITS?
You must advise your insurance company that you have had a car accident within 7 days of the accident, or as at once as possible, and you must complete your application for Accident Benefits within 30 days. While it is not fatal to your application if you miss these deadlines by a narrow limits, you should tender your applications as just now as possible.
Once you have successfully favorable to the insurance company for Accident Benefits, the first step to get modifications is to secure a home - site assessment.
These assessments line true-to-life, practical suggestions to help the injured person to conscious safely and fairly in his or her apartment. The spotlight of the assessments is to return the injured person, to the extent it is possible, to a pre - accident continuous of function as quickly, safely and economically as possible.
Injured people with catastrophic or near catastrophic injuries may require other assessments as well, including a housing accessibility report, an alternative housing report.
Usually, the insurer will pay for the home assessment if they are notified in advance. To get stab of this type of assessment, the injured mingle or his or her lawyer has to arrange for the upshot of a configuration called an " OCF - 22: Application for Probing of an Assessment or Examination ".
Keep in mind that the person conducting the assessment is usually not a regulated health professional and therefore will not be permitted to complete the OCF 22. An occupational therapist, a case employer or equable a family moisten or physiotherapist can complete the cut.
The insurance company will review the OCF 22. An opinion can take place if it is favorable. The inclination will finish in a report. After the report is written, another outline called a " OCF 18: Pattern Plan " is filed with the insurer, detailing the estimated value of the suggestions in the report. The renos can commencement once the OCF 18 ( design plan ) is simpatico.
ARE HOME MODIFICATIONS PERMITTED FOR NON - CATASTROPHIC INJURIES?
Sometimes, the judge to that question is yes. Where the injured part has suffered injuries that cause impairment but are on the less serious end of the spectrum, and if the renovations are not racket to be hefty, an occupational therapist will get done a home presupposition.
An feeling of the activities of prosaic vital of the injured shape is included in a home presumption. This hypothesis looks at personal care, housekeeping, home concervation and care giving tasks. The report written by the occupational therapist will particularize a list of any assistive devices and changes fundamental to the home. Examples of recommendations in this set of mind admit adding a stair wall, raising or precursive a stiffener or counter or adding inspired - aligned storage in a scullery.
If the renos suggested by the therapist are fated, they can be filed with the insurer, together with an OCF 18 ( Treatment Plan ) that expenses the recommendations to get the insurer ' s tryout to proceed.
HOW TO ACCESS THESE BENEFITS FOR CATASTROPHICALLY INJURED PEOPLE
If a person is seriously injured and needs pregnant home modifications like ramps, additions, elevators, walls moved, a home accessibility report is required.
A report on pigpen accessibility is focussed on the housing requirements of the person injured. The report identifies the client ' s housing requirements, a description and pictures or drawings of the current home. It also outlines the home modifications and renovations that would be needed to apt the client ' s housing needs at the current habitation.
The report on cubbyhole accessibility will itemize the cost and will outline the plan for any contemplated renos. The report addresses municipal by - laws and construction issues that are often appearance the scope of practice of an occupational therapist.
After the report is ready, and the person who is injured decides to go ahead with a proposed reno, a treament plan ( OCF 18 ) is filed with the insurer to be cordial.
Sometimes the injured person will decide that the proposed renovations do not make sense and are not in their best leisure activity. In that circumstance, it can be better to aptly purchase a new home for quite than essay to renovate the current one.
Factors that may impact the accommodation to purchase a new home quite than renovating an existing home are the following:
* Whether the existing home is rented or owned by the city?
* Are the renovations required so extensive that they will enervate or exceed the policy limits or just not make cash sense?
* Are the renovation not allowed due to municipal restrictions?
* Whether the person who is injured still lived with his or her family when the accident happened?
* How close is the existing home to the services required due to the person ' s disabilities?
The housing assistance under s. 15 of the Accident Benefits is among the most serious aspects of most claimants ' no fault claim.
