Dr. Lacerte

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and received statutory accident benefits until the insurer terminated his weekly income benefits.

The applicant applied for arbitration, seeking weekly income benefits for the period from August 1994 to August 1996.

Although the arbitrator found the applicant to be a poor witness whose statements to medical assessors were unreliable, the arbitrator accepted the testimony of a lay witness who observed the applicant's physical limitations during a home renovation project.

The arbitrator concluded that the applicant suffered a substantial inability to perform the essential tasks of his pre-accident factory job due to back and leg pain caused by the accident.

The applicant was awarded weekly income benefits for the disputed period, plus interest.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and received statutory accident benefits, which the insurer terminated after three years.

She applied for arbitration seeking reinstatement of weekly benefits and homemaker services.

The arbitrator found that while the applicant suffered from a significant mobility impairment and chronic pain that justified the reinstatement of 12 hours per week of homemaker services, her disability was not so pervasive as to continuously prevent her from engaging in substantially all of her usual activities.

Therefore, the claim for ongoing weekly benefits was dismissed.

The applicant was awarded her expenses for the arbitration.