You’re working your way through the busy streets of Guelph and you’ve been in a car accident.
Maybe it was just a little one, maybe it was a bigger one. You’ve contacted your insurance and reported everything to them. Your car is being taken care of. You felt alright in the immediate aftermath, but it’s been a day or two and now your body is feeling not so great.
Transport Canada reported 140,801 minor to serious personal injuries because of a motor vehicle accident in 2019. This includes all ages, infants to over 65. Individuals aged 20 to 54 make up the majority of the injuries. 47% of these injuries were drivers of a car, 20% passengers, 12% were motorcyclists, 4% were bicyclists, and pedestrians made up almost 16% of the total injuries.
If you are injured in a car accident you have various accident benefits, and more specifically, you have benefit coverage from the car insurance company for physical rehabilitation. This is true whether you were at fault or not, and also if you were the driver, passenger, pedestrian, or cyclist. Most injuries from car accidents involve soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia) and are more often within the neck and back.
At Guelph Rehab Centre, they have a very experienced healthcare team that deals specifically with injuries from car accidents. The Centre's back and headache programs have been successful in reducing back pain, neck pain, and headaches. The focus at Guelph Rehab is also to ensure the patient gets back to activities of normal living and back to work in an efficient and safe time frame.
Once you have notified your insurance company that you have been injured in a car accident, your insurer will inform you of the protocols involved and will send you a package with forms to complete. The submission of these forms is time-sensitive. Guelph Rehab Centre offers complimentary assistance with navigating through the sometimes difficult task of completing all the paperwork required for submitting a claim to your auto insurance company.
Below are five things that you should know if you are injured in a car accident:
Accident Benefits For Rehabilitation
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You have coverage for rehabilitation of your injuries.
Whether you are at fault or not, you are entitled to rehabilitation coverage for injuries sustained in a car accident. The compensation applies whether you are the driver of the vehicle, a passenger, pedestrian, or cyclist. You can access our physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage therapy and more if clinically required to treat your pain and dysfunction. - You are entitled to other benefits as a result of a car accident.
The Accident Benefits are to assist those who have been injured in a car accident. They provide different types of benefits such as Medical and Rehabilitation benefits. Income replacement, attendant care benefits, and lost educational expenses may also be available.
- How to activate your Accident Benefits for Rehabilitation.
You must first apply to an insurance provider in order to access these benefits. It would either be your auto insurer or if you do not have insurance (you were a passenger or pedestrian) it would be the company that insures the vehicle that was involved. To apply, you would complete an initial application then apply for each specific benefit through the use of the various forms. This process can sometimes be very complicated; again, Guelph Rehab can assist you with this process at no cost to you.
- Making an accident benefits claim does not cause your premium to go up!
You have already paid for Accident Benefits within your insurance premiums. This means your annual rate does not go up just because you have made a claim. However, if you were at fault for the accident, there may be implications to your premium.
- Guelph Rehab Centre can help!
There are several forms to complete and it can be complicated. Your experienced Rehab Consultant can assist you with completing the forms and help you navigate through the process. Give them a call and they would be glad to help.
The team at the Guelph Rehab Centre would prefer no one is injured in a motor vehicle accident but if this is the case, please give them a call so they can return you to your best.