When you purchased your insurance policy there were optional coverages listed for you to choose. In the process of managing the cost of your policy you try to decide what would best suit your situation. Little do we realize how important some of the options are should you become injured.
You probably did not know that under Provincial Legislation the Insurance Companies are allowed a deductible relative to pain and suffering when you are awarded damages under a certain amount. If you fail to win an award more than the deductible, you could be held responsible for balances due to the Insurance Companies.
The payments made to victims, as example, for accident benefits or attendant care are fixed amounts while collecting benefits and not subject to indexing unless you elected to choose indexing coverage when accepting your policy. These amounts are set by a division of the Provincial Government and do not reflect current economic situations. The Provincial Government did see fit to allow the Insurance Companies to index their deductible for personal injury on an annual basis.
This means that for the years that you are fighting for compensation, your accident benefits are not going to change unless the Provincial Government decides to step in and change the legislation. You are on a fixed rate while the Insurance Company’s are on a floating upward rate for the deductible.
More on this subject as we chat about SABS, the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule in the following posts.