2 total
Accident benefits partially granted for reasonable medical expenses; income and disability claims dismissed due to pre-existing psychosis.
The applicant sought statutory accident benefits following a motor vehicle accident.
The insurer denied benefits, initially disputing that the applicant was in the insured vehicle.
The arbitrator found the applicant was a passenger but concluded his injuries were minor soft tissue strains.
Claims for extensive physiotherapy and chiropractic treatments were partially allowed, limited to what was reasonable for an uncomplicated injury.
Claims for income replacement and other disability benefits were dismissed, as the applicant was unemployed prior to the accident and his inability to carry on a normal life was attributable to a pre-existing, chronic psychosis rather than the accident.
Statutory accident benefits denied after June 1994; ongoing disability attributed to pre-existing workplace injury.
The applicant was injured in a workplace accident and subsequently in a motor vehicle accident while on a graduated return-to-work program.
The insurer terminated statutory accident benefits, arguing the applicant had returned to his pre-accident state.
The arbitrator found that the motor vehicle accident only aggravated the pre-existing injuries for a period of six to seven months.
Relying on the treating physicians' contemporaneous records, the arbitrator concluded the applicant's ongoing disability after June 1994 was not caused by the motor vehicle accident.
Claims for ongoing weekly income benefits and supplementary medical expenses were dismissed.
