Forms Involved in a Personal Injury Cases

In the wake of a personal injury, navigating what your insurance company needs and the accident benefits system can feel overwhelming – especially when it comes to paperwork. Thomson Rogers LLP’s Michael Bennett explains what forms you’ll need to fill out and what to expect when filing a claim.

So you’re in the hospital, and you likely think to yourself, “Maybe I should call my insurance company”. The first thing your insurance company is going to do is ask you what happened. Immediately, you should be careful about what you say. Nonetheless, you have an obligation to phone your insurer and say you’ve been involved in an accident.

The next thing that happens is that the insurer is going to send you a package with a number of forms that are very difficult to fill out, and they are all beginning with the letters OCF.

OCF-1

The OCF-1 is the application form, and this needs to be filled out. It’s filled with important information. It may be a good idea for you to have it reviewed by a lawyer before sending it to the insurance company. Once it is filled out and signed, it is very hard to take this back.

OCF-2

The other forms you need to fill out immediately are an OCF-2 – or an Employer’s Confirmation of Income if you were working at the time of the accident. Your employer will fill this out.

OCF-3

The third form you need to fill out immediately is something called an OCF-3 – or a disability certificate. Ideally, one of your treating physicians will fill this out at the hospital.

OCF-5

If an insurance company is asking to fill out something called an OCF-5, which is an authorization for them to collect basically a blank cheque to get all of your personal information, that shouldn’t be signed. And immediately, you should be suspicious of your accident benefit insurer about treating you fairly.

Michael Bennett is a Personal Injury Partner at Thomson Rogers LLP. He is willing to go the extra mile to see clients receive the treatment they require and deserve, with a special interest in complicated orthopaedic injuries, brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. You can reach Michael at 416-868-3246 or by email.