What Are Section B Benefits in Alberta?
Motor vehicle accidents can be shocking, traumatic, and disruptive experiences. They can also be extremely expensive.
Nobody expects to be involved in a motor vehicle collision. These accidents occur suddenly and without warning, causing people to sustain unanticipated physical and psychological trauma.
Not only are most people unprepared to be involved in a motor vehicle collision, they often do not appreciate the costs associated with them until they have been involved in an accident themselves. Car accidents can lead to substantial financial losses. These are usually related to property damage (including damage to the vehicles involved in the collision), lost wages as the result of missed work, and other practical expenses.
However, if a person sustains injuries as the result of a motor vehicle accident, the costs they incur can be astronomical. Depending on the severity of their injuries and the adverse effects they have on an accident survivor’s overall quality of life, car accident survivors in Alberta could find themselves struggling to keep up with all of the resulting expenses. Accident survivors and their families could even feel the financial repercussions of their collisions for years – or even decades – after the fact.
Fortunately, all auto insurance plans in the province of Alberta must include provisions for Section B benefits. These no-fault accident benefits are intended to offset certain injury-related costs incurred by anyone who has been injured in a motor vehicle collision, regardless of who was responsible for causing the collision.
If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident, even if your own errors or misjudgments behind the wheel contributed to the circumstances that led to your collision, you should still be able to qualify for Section B benefits. This insurance coverage should be made available to all road-users who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents. Eligible recipients could include:
- Drivers
- Passengers
- Pedestrians
- Cyclists
- Motorcycle riders
- And other road-users
Section B benefits can provide crucial financial support to individuals experiencing an onslaught of new expenses. Because of the significant economic losses associated with accident-related injuries, in the aftermath of an injury-causing collision, these no-fault accident benefits are often the only form of support protecting accident survivors from financial insecurity.
Applying for Section B benefits should be a straightforward process. However, insurance companies do not always make it easy for injured accident survivors. They often find reasons to complicate the process unnecessarily, delay or withhold payments for reasons that may seem arbitrary, or even deny an injured accident survivor’s claim for benefits summarily.
In the days and weeks that follow an injury-causing motor vehicle accident, it can be difficult to keep track of all the things that need to be done and meet all the deadlines required to submit a claim for Section B benefits. Relying on legal assistance from an Alberta Section B benefits lawyer may help you expedite the process of recovering the coverage you are rightfully owed.
What Coverage is Available?
The amount of Section B benefits available to injured survivors of motor vehicle accidents is legislated by the provincial Insurance Act’s Automobile Accident Insurance Benefits Regulation. Depending on the severity of their injuries, injured accident survivors could be entitled to a maximum of $50,000 in accident benefits for a two-year time limitation. These benefits might be used to cover reasonable costs associated with their serious, non-minor injuries. Applicable expenses might include:
- Medical expenses
- Surgery
- Chiropractic treatment
- Dental work
- Hospital accommodations
- Psychological counseling
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Massage therapy
- Acupuncture
- Professional nursing and ambulance services
- Medically necessary equipment
- Home and vehicle modifications
- Other services essential to the accident victim’s recovery
Those motor vehicle accident survivors whose injuries are considered to be “minor” are, accordingly, provided with a lower amount of benefits. If the car accident survivor wishes to be diagnosed and treated for sprains, strains, or whiplash associated disorders sustained in their collision, the Diagnostic and Treatment Protocols Regulation applies. These individuals may be eligible to receive funding for up to either 10 or 21 treatment sessions, depending on the severity of their injuries. These treatment sessions must be completed within 90 days of the accident.
People who have suffered disabling injuries may be entitled to disability benefits through Section B coverage, as well. So long as the accident survivor was employed at the time of the collision and can no longer perform any and every duty of their occupation as a result of their injuries, accident victims could be entitled to disability benefits for as long as their injuries persist. Disability benefits can provide injured accident survivors with the lesser of:
- $600 per week; or
- 80% of their average gross weekly earnings, minus payments for loss of employment income
If a motor vehicle collision results in a death, the deceased accident victim’s spouse and/or dependents (i.e, children) could receive a lump sum payment for death, grief counseling, and funeral benefits. These benefits amounts are determined based on the age of the deceased at the time of the accident and their familial status.
Working with an Alberta Section B Benefits Lawyer
Despite the fact that any injured accident survivor – regardless of their culpability for the collision – should be entitled to Section B benefits, insurance companies often find reasons to deny applicants’ claims. The reasons they cite for a claim’s denial are often confusing, especially when the accident victim has provided their insurance provider with thorough medical evidence substantiating their claim.
Our Section B benefits lawyers serving Alberta are familiar with the unfair tactics often used by insurance providers to deny claims, withhold funds, offer low-ball settlements, or terminate benefits prematurely. Our Alberta Section B benefits lawyers have experience holding insurance companies accountable for their wrongful actions and helping the clients we represent get the coverage they deserve.
If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, it is important to contact our Alberta Section B benefits lawyers as soon as possible. Even before you have submitted your accident benefits claim, our Section B benefits lawyers serving Alberta may be able to provide you with crucial legal assistance. If your claim was denied, by working with our Alberta Section B benefits lawyers, you may be able to appeal your insurer’s unfair determination. By doing so, you may be able to recover compensation for:
- Previously denied benefits payments
- Legal fees
- Damages incurred because the claim’s initial denial
- Aggravated and punitive damages, depending on the circumstances
- And possibly more
Our Section B benefits lawyers serving Alberta provide all prospective clients with a free initial consultation. To schedule yours and learn about the financial support to which you might be entitled, contact us today.
