{"id":1203,"date":"2020-02-20T14:59:35","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T14:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/?p=1203"},"modified":"2020-02-20T14:59:35","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T14:59:35","slug":"non-earner-benefits-complete-inability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/non-earner-benefits-complete-inability\/","title":{"rendered":"Non Earner Benefits &#038;  Complete Inability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In 2019, there were over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.univcan.ca\/universities\/facts-and-stats\/\">1,000,000 full-time\nstudents<\/a> attending university in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dedicating most of their time to their studies, many\nof these students cannot work and, therefore, fall under the legal category of\nnon-earners. Along with retirees, people on disability benefits, and the\nunemployed, non-earning Ontarians may receive some benefits when they\u2019re\ninvolved in a car accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you or someone close to you is a non-earner who has\nbeen involved in a car accident, you should understand what you may be entitled\nto under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS). While determining whether\nyou\u2019re considered a non-earner might be relatively straightforward, qualifying\nfor non-earner benefits is far more complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Are\nNon-Earner Benefits?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>SABS are benefits available to all drivers in Canada,\nregardless of who is at fault in an accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re earning an income at the time of your\naccident, you may be entitled to income replacement benefits. But for those who\ndon\u2019t qualify for income replacement benefits, non-earner benefits may be\navailable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Non-earner benefits are a form of weekly compensation\noutlined in Section 12(1) of the SABS. The SABS defines non-earners as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>A person who suffers a complete\ninability to carry on a normal life as a result of and within 104 weeks after\nan accident and who does not qualify for income replacement benefits<\/li><li>A person who suffers a complete\ninability to carry on a normal life as a result of and within 104 weeks after an\naccident and was enrolled in elementary, secondary, or post-secondary education\nat the time of the accident and on a full-time basis<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This type of accident benefit is typically made\navailable for those who have not worked in the 26-52 weeks prior to the\naccident. While it specifically mentions full-time students and recent\ngraduates, people who are on another form of disability benefits, are unemployed,\nor who are retired, may also qualify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Qualifying for\nNon-Earner Benefits &amp; Complete Inability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important (and complicated) matter\nsurrounding qualification for non-earner benefits is the concept of \u201ccomplete\ninability\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Section 3(7)(a) of the SABS defines complete inability\nas follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>a person&nbsp;suffers a&nbsp;complete inability to carry on a normal life&nbsp;as\na result of an accident if, as a result of the accident,&nbsp;the person sustains an impairment that continuously&nbsp;prevents\nthe person from engaging in substantially all&nbsp;of the activities in which\nthe person ordinarily engaged&nbsp;before the accident<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In essence, qualifying for non-earner benefits\ninvolves a complete inability to carry on a normal life as a result of the\naccident. In practice, this legal test is far more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Complete\nInability in Practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your access to non-earner benefits hinges on proving\ncomplete inability to carry on a normal life. It\u2019s not uncommon for insurers to\ntry and deny non-earner benefits based on this caveat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be sure, reading that definition and interpreting\nit literally would leave one feeling as though non-earner benefits are only\navailable for victims of extreme injury. In practice, this is not the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result of the 2009 case <em>Heath v.\nEconomical&nbsp;Mutual Insurance Company<\/em>, the Ontario Court of Appeal\nclarified the components of the legal test used to determine if an individual\nmeets the definition of complete inability to carry on a normal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The accepted\ninterpretation of complete inability after this case is: sustaining an injury\nor impairment that continuously prevents one from engaging in substantially the\nactivities that one normally performed prior to the car accident. The legal test for meeting that criteria involves several factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The courts will compare the\nactivities and life circumstances of the claimant before and after the\naccident. The assessment of these items should include a reasonable period of\ntime prior to the accident having occurred. <\/li><li>A claimant\u2019s activity must be\nviewed as a whole. Going through the motions of an activity is not considered\nbeing engaged in that activity. In the same way, the quality of performance in\npost-accident activity will be considered by the courts.<\/li><li>In determining the\n\u201csubstantially all\u201d portion of the complete inability criteria, the courts\nshould look at and consider all of the pre-accident activities that the\nclaimant ordinarily engaged in. The courts are obliged to give more weight to\nactivities that were identified as important prior to the accident.<\/li><li>Claimants\n     must demonstrate how the injuries or impairments caused by the accident\n     have continuously prevented them from engaging in substantially all of\n     their activities. The key in establishing this piece lays in \u201ccontinuously\n     prevented\u201d, which is understood as \u201cdisability or incapacity of the requisite\n     nature, extent or degree which\n     is&nbsp;and remains uninterrupted.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In some cases, a detailed comparison of the before and\nafter period isn\u2019t necessary. This is determined by the post-accident condition\nof the claimant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Payments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, the payment for non-earner benefits is up\nto $185 per week.&nbsp; If an accident\noccurred prior to June 1, 2016, non-earner benefits were subject to a six month\nwaiting period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following that period, claimants received $185 per\nweek for the first two years after the accident. After the first two years, if\nthe injured victim was a student, the payment increased to $320 per week, which\nthe student could potentially receive for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accidents that occurred on or after June 1, 2016 are\nsubject to a four-week waiting period. Not only has the waiting period been\nreduced, but so too has the payment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These claimants, with certain exceptions, are entitled to $185 per week for a maximum of two years.\u00a0 If an accident victim is deemed catastrophically impaired, the non-earner benefit is only payable for life if the accident occurred prior to June 1, 2016.  If the claimant&#8217;s accident was after to June 1, 2016, whether they are deemed catastrophic or not, this benefit is only available for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do You Pass the\nComplete Inability Test for Non-Earner Benefits?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you were involved in an accident and you don\u2019t\nqualify for income replacement benefits, you might be able to claim non-earner\nbenefits. Typically reserved for students, the unemployed, and retirees, these benefits\nare intended to compensate you should you not be capable of carrying out a\nnormal life following an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Qualifying for non-earner benefits involves complete\ninability, and the criteria for determining complete inability are complicated.\nIt involves establishing that your injury or impairment renders you incapable\nof engaging substantially in pre-accident activities as well as a number of\nother factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As complex as determining complete inability is, you\nshould seek the help of an experienced and knowledgeable professional. At Sharma\nLaw, we can help you figure out whether you qualify for these benefits and what\ninformation you\u2019ll need to prove your situation. Contact us today to for a free\nconsultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2019, there were over 1,000,000 full-time students attending university in Canada. Dedicating most of their time to their studies, many of these students cannot work and, therefore, fall under the legal category of non-earners. Along with retirees, people on disability benefits, and the unemployed, non-earning Ontarians may receive some benefits when they\u2019re involved in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vsharmalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}