If you or someone you know were involved in a car accident as a driver, passenger, cyclist or pedestrian you might need to fill out the "Application for Accident Benefits". This form is currently 8 pages long and you may need to add attachments on additional information in order to complete it. Although this form is meant to be completed by the car accident victim it is very complex and uses technical jargon which frequently confuses even the professionals who don't have experience in the field of personal injury. It is absolutely vital that you and your doctor or lawyer spend time to complete these form properly. Small mistakes and omissions may prevent you from accessing important medical and rehabilitation services in a timely manner. Big mistakes may have more dire consequences.
First, you will need to determine which insurance company is responsible to provide you with the "Accident Benefits". Think it is simple? It turns out that it is very confusing. For instances, you were the passenger in your friend's car and she made an accident. You are also a secondary driver of your mom's car and are mentioned in her insurance policy. You may think that your friend's insurance policy will cover you? Well, in Ontario it will be the responsibility of your mom's insurance policy to provide you with the Accident Benefits as you were listed in her policy, and your mom's insurance "has the priority". Now, most likely your and your mom's insurance will not increase as it is neither one was at fault of the accident.
After you did everything described above you need to call the insurance company that is responsible for the claim (phone # can be found on the insurance slip or googled) and open an "Accident Benefits Claim". Be ready to answer a series of questions from the insurance adviser on the phone. Most importantly, at the end of your phone call make sure to ask the adviser to provide you with the claim number and right this number down. In most cases the insurance adjuster will be assigned to your case within 1 business day.
Now, its time to fill out the OCF-1 "Application for Accident Benefits"! Part 1 is "Applicant Information". Pretty straight forward except the part that asks you about your dependents for financial support or care. These are normally your children who depend on you for financial support and care under 16-18 years of age or disabled or elderly adults (relatives) who depend on you. For example, an elderly parent or disabled partner would qualify.
Skip part 2 if you did not hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you. If you did, then include their information in part 2.
Part 3 is tricky and you may need to consult someone before filling out as the details provided here are very important. For instance, if you were at work when the accident happened (e.g. taxi driver, travelling nurse, deliver person) then you will most likely not qualify for accident benefits at all! However, if you are a taxi or uber driver, who was coming home from work and was not officially on duty then you will qualify for benefits, however, it is important to properly explain this in the OCF-1! If you have any questions related to this or any other part of the OCF-1 feel free to call or email us and we will be happy to help you with this for free.
Part 4 helps determine which insurance company is responsible for paying for your accident benefits. Part 5 deals with your "status" and can be a little confusing. As such you may be considered: employed, retired, self-employed, caregiver, student. How do you figure this out? Sometimes it is straight forward and sometimes it can be very confusing. Part 6, 7, 8 are the logical continuation of Part 5, which are even more detailed.
To summarize:
Do your best to fill out the OCF-1 but don't worry if its too challenging, you can always find help with this. At our office we help clients, doctors and lawyers fill out tens of OCF-1s per month! We find it that if English is not your first language you may have difficulty filling out this form on your own. Also, depending on your skill with completing forms you may need someone to help you fill this form out. At our clinic we use specialized software that helps us quickly and efficiently fill out this form. Additionally, our staff is very experienced in these matters and can assist you with OCF-1 or any other insurance related form. We don't charge you or the insurance company for this service.
Why do we do it for free?
Our vision is "Care at its best!". We want healthcare to be just as easy and fun as using free internet services. Imagine if you had to pay for google email or to read a newspaper online. We believe that all healthcare and related social services should be free just like Facebook and google are free!
While we help our clients, doctors and lawyers with these and other forms we do our best to build a trusting relationship with them. We hope that after we fill out your forms for free you will decided to stay with our clinic as a client or referring provider or lawyer (our services are covered by your insurance and you don't need to pay out of pocket). If you are a family physician, nurse or any other professional who is trying to help their client fill out these forms we will help you as best as we can to make this process easy for you. We will offer to do it for free for your client. In any case, we would like to hear from you and help you!
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