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| Tuesday, September 7, 2010, 10:42 am |
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Accident BenefitsProvides insurance benefits that you and other insured persons are entitled to receive if injured or killed in a motorcycle (automobile) accident. These insurance benefits include: income replacement for those who have lost income; payments to non-earners who suffer complete inability to carry on a normal life; payment of care expenses to persons who cannot continue to act as a primary caregiver for a member of their household; payment of medical, rehabilitation and attendant care expenses; payment of certain other expenses; payment of funeral expenses and payments to survivors of a person who is killed. You may also purchase optional insurance benefits to increase the basic level of accident benefits provided in your motorcycle insurance policy. Note that changes to Standard coverage and Optional Increased limits as of September 1, 2010 for renewals and new policies are in bold lettering following each coverage description in this document. All Ontario automobile and motorcycle insurance policyholders will receive detailed descriptions of these changes with their policy documents that the insurance company sends them. Riders Plus strongly recommends that you read the details of your coverages very carefully because the new Standard policy contains greatly reduced Accident Benefits coverages that can affect claimant to varying degrees depending on the severity of the injuries incurred and other factors. Ensure that your policy meets your requirements, and let Riders Plus customer service staff advise you on the implications of your choices. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The optional benefits your insurance company offers (by law) are: Increased Income Replacement - the basic level of income replacement provided in the insurance policy ($400 per week maximum) can be increased by purchasing optional increased insurance coverage so that the weekly limit is up to $600, $800 or $1000. All income replacement benefits are based on 80% of your net weekly income. New as of September 1, 2010: IR benefits will be based on 70% of gross earnings under same weekly limit levels of income as before. Increased Caregiver and Dependant Care - the basic level of caregiver benefits for care expenses of persons who are not employed but care for dependants (up to $250 per week for the first person needing care, and $50 per week for every additional person) can be increased by purchasing optional coverage so that the weekly limit is up to $325 for the first person and $75 for additional persons. There is no basic benefits for persons who are employed and care for dependants, but if you purchase this optional coverage you can receive a benefit to cover additional weekly dependant care expenses of $75 for the first dependant, and $25 for each additional dependant up to $150 per week. New as of September 1, 2010: Caregiver coverage ceases to exist on Standard policies for any but Catastrophic claims. Previous Caregiver limits can be regained for additional cost. Housekeeping and Home maintenance limits of $100/week have also been rescinded and must be repurchased. Dependant Care similarly must be purchased to be regained under the new Standard policy. Increased Medical, Rehabilitational and Attendant Care - The basic benefit pays up to $100,000 for medical and rehabilitational expenses, with a 10 year time limit in most cases, and up to $72,000 for attendant care expenses. If catastrophically impaired, the basic benefit pays $1,000,000 for medical and rehabilitational expenses and $1,000,000 for attendant care expenses. You can purchase optional coverage of $1,000,000 above the basic coverage, and that provides no limitation on the time for which these expenses are paid. New as of September 1, 2010: Limits for Non-Catastrophic losses have been halved to $50,000 on Standard policies and can be purchased back to $100,000 or "Enhanced" to $1,100,000 in a package that would increase Catastrpohic coverage to $2,000,000. A new limit of $3500 on Minor Injuries has been introduced, and Assessments have been capped at $2000 and are always included in the limit on the new Standard whereas they were not part of the limit previously. Attendant Care coverage has been halved to $36,000 maxed out at $3000 per month, meaning that this benefit could end halfway to the two year limit of determining permanent qualification for coverage. This coverage can be bought back to $72,000 or Enhanced to $1,072,000 for Non-Catastrophic losses (the Enhanced option would also increase the Catastrophic coverage to $2,000,000). Increased Death and Funeral - The basic level of death benefits paid to the surviving spouse or surviving same-sex partner and dependant of a person who is killed ($25,000 to surviving spouse or surviving same-sex partner; $10,000 to surviving dependant) can be doubled by purchasing this optional coverage. This insurance coverage also increases the basic funeral expense benefit from $6,000 to $8,000. No changes to this coverage, standard or optional, as of September 1, 2010 Indexation Benefit - This optional insurance coverage will ensure that certain weekly insurance benefit payments and monetary limits will increase on an annual basis to reflect changes in the cost of living. No changes as of September 1, 2010.
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