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Archive for category: Automobile Safety and Insurance

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Wash Your Car!

Working in auto insurance makes me slightly paranoid about issues of vehicle safety.  Ideally, it would be great if car accidents could become extinct and people could go about their business without running the risk of becoming injured in their travels, but currently these remain one of the main causes of adult and child injury, death and disability.  So, maximizing car safety should be on the top of everyone’s list.

Years ago, in the middle of winter, I was driving home from seeing a client at night.  I was on back roads that were not lit.  My headlights were on, but I could barely see the road in front of me.  I struggled with this, assuming I had a headlight out, and managed to get to a gas station.  There, I investigated the problem and realized my headlights were just covered in the road sludge so common in Ontario winters.  I cleaned up my headlights with a window squeegee and voila!  I could see again

Prior to this, the thought of washing my headlights never occurred to me.  Why would it?  Unless you encounter a problem, this is not something I remember being taught in driver’s ed, nor something my parents mentioned to look for as I was learning to drive.  Some things we just learn in life the hard way – hoping to not be hurt in the process.

I remember when cars started to be manufactured to have headlights on automatically and all the time.  I said to my brother “I don’t get why headlights should be on during the day, they won’t help a driver to see better” and he responded with “it is so other people can see you better”, I am sure adding a brotherly “dummy” in there too.

The other day I was reminded of these lessons again.  It was a sunny day, but the roads had been a mess a few days prior.  I was driving in the right lane and needed to change into the left lane to make an upcoming left turn.  I glanced in my dirty side mirror and my rear mirror which was looking out my dirty back window, and I didn’t see anyone.  I checked my side mirror again, and noticed something that looked odd.  I focused more clearly and realized that there was another car to the left of me after all.  This was a black car, covered in the grey muck of winter.  The lights weren’t on, and what struck me was how much this car was essentially the color of the road.   The road was a grey, dirt covered mess, and this car blended right in.  Had the lights been on, or the car clean, I would have spotted this easily.

Really, both these issues with visibility when driving – to see and be seen – could be tackled with a simple car wash.  Even if this seems futile with ongoing weather coming, the short-term benefits are immense.  A clean car is easier for others to see, gives you better visibility when the windows and side mirrors are clear, and washes your headlights to make sure these are most effective.  Besides, of course, the other benefits of washing road salt and sand from your paint job.  Many gas stations have a quick car wash adjacent to the pump, and allow you to pay at the pump for convenience.  Or, some car washes are even a drive-thru format and you don’t even have to leave your car.  In the end, when it comes to road and driving safety, the added expense of giving your car a rinse could be “priceless”.

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Winter Is On Its Way: Stay Safe on The Road

Winter is well on its way!  Snow has fallen and temperatures are dropping.  It’s time to get out your boots, hats and snow gear, but also time to ensure your vehicle is prepared for the blustery winter weather ahead. Winter weather can provide many pleasures:  building snowmen, skiing, outdoor skating and the beauty of the freshly fallen snow.  However, winter weather can also bring many dangers, especially on the road, and can take a toll on your vehicle.  From tires to wipers, the following article gives tips on how to prepare your vehicle for the cold and stormy weather that awaits.  Be sure you and your vehicle are prepared for winter, and to keep yourself and others safe, always drive according to weather conditions.

How To Prepare Your Car For Winter Survival

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An Uprising?

I recently wrote paper for my business law course.  In this, I talked about the auto insurance industry and demonstrated through case law examples of insurer negligence, failed fiduciary duty, professional and assessment issues, and how some insurer behavior even seems to violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Once I know I passed my assignment, I will post some of the findings here.

But what I realized in writing my paper is that third party assessors are immune in law.  These are the assessors insurers hire when they want a second opinion.  While I believe in the need for a “check and balance”, the quality of these opinions is deteriorating.  Now, we are seeing completely unsupported  benefit denials, issues with assessor behavior (questionable comments made to the claimant, very short exams costing thousands), errors in reporting (sometimes the client’s name is even wrong in parts), and even some fudging of professional credentials and experience (no Dr. Grant is not an Orthopedic Surgeon).  As a treating OT, I see the aftermath of this – clients feel victimized, some even abused, some angry, and some sink deeper into a depression from the comments they read that have so wrongly captured the problems they have.  People are trying to go to the Colleges to complain, but are saying this is ineffective.

I also discovered with my paper that third party assessors do not owe a claimant a “duty of care” and as such cannot be negligent.  They can breach professional standards, and for that be held accountable by a College (if they have one), but cannot be sued for negligence or failed fiduciary duties.  Does knowing this make these assessors more ruthless?  Or, perhaps they don’t know this as I too used to be one of these assessors and always felt that I did owe a duty of care and ensured I provided a level of professional courteousness and respect for the client, even if the intent was not to form a treating relationship.  I never saw a line between me as an “OT” and me as an “assessor”.  They were always one and the same.  But maybe that is why I never had a college complaint, or a client or other therapist call me after an assessment and tell me I was out to lunch.

I feel an uprising coming.  A time where the people of Ontario, who rely on their insurer to fulfill a contract after an accident, get sick of the way they are being treated by some adjusters and assessors and demand a solution.  One such solution has presented itself in Colorado.  With this, Colorado’s uprising resulted in new Independent Medical Examination Legislation that is working to solve the problems that bad assessments were creating.  Here are some highlights:

The legislation requires that independent assessors be in the same specialty as the treating practitioner (including chiropractors, psychologists, or orthopedic surgeons), and earn less than half their income from disability assessments.  Most important, their process ensures that the assessor is acceptable to both the insurer and the patient. Assessors are held to a higher standard than treating providers, considering their position of power.  In the new system, 75% of assessments have concluded that the initial diagnosis and treatment was appropriate, 20% partly appropriate, and only 5% inappropriate or unrelated to the accident.  Further, dispute times have been greatly reduced, saving significant dollars (www.colorado.gov).

How about we try something like that FSCO, IBC and friends?  But I know that before you can do this, you first need to recognize how the behavior and actions of some insurers are driving up costs, that bad assessments are ultimately resources wasted, and that costly disputes in court are resulting from both.  Could it be that maybe, just maybe, fraud is only one of your problems?

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How is Ordering a Wheelchair the “Cost of Doing Business”?

The new wave in insurance denials (from assessors and adjusters) is that planning and communication time is “the cost of doing business”.  Huh?  Until you spend a day with me, at my desk, in my car, on my phone, and in my client visits, how do you know my “business”?  I can tell you that it goes like this:  for every hour I spend with a client, I spend an equal hour doing the follow-up that came from the visit in the first place.  And for CAT files, make that two hours.  What am I doing in that time?  I am calling vendors to source equipment, trying to get the best price, best client service, and the most appropriate devices.  I am researching practical and inexpensive solutions on the internet.  I am calling other team members to discuss functional issues, and to ensure collaborative but not duplicated service.  I am arranging attendant care as if they need attendant care, they often need someone to coordinate it.  I am trying to obtain funding approval from the insurer, or trying to save the client’s rehabilitation dollars by hooking them up with public services.  I am receiving calls from my client to tell me the cast came off, that the new medication is helping, and that they are trying to use the cognitive strategies we discussed.  I am reminding them of the things I am waiting on, or sourcing for them, or the calls that have not been returned.

Sound like case management?  It is not, it is OT and those services are necessary for the provision of our therapy.  And believe me, calling to get quotes on devices is a lot cheaper than driving to the client each time to meet with a different vendor.  “Planning and communication time” actually saves money.

But what is concerning, and also comical, is that the people who are telling us what “is the cost of doing business” are getting paid the entire time.  The adjuster that denies planning time and spends 30 minutes on the phone arguing with us is getting paid.  We are not.  Or, the examination OT that got paid to review our plan and cut us off from a few treatment hours.  When was the last time that OT actually treated a client anyway?

I have had two epic conversations with adjusters that drive this point home.  In one case, the adjuster and I got off topic and started chatting about housing.  After 30 minutes he said “are you charging me for this phone call”?  I responded with “first of all, I don’t charge you, I charge my client, and no, I am not going to charge my client because you kept me on the phone for 30 minutes”.  I then said, “but you are getting paid to talk to me, right?”  He said “well I make less than you”.  My response was “not in the last 30 minutes”.  He laughed.  The other conversation was even more interesting.  An adjuster was going to arrange for an assessment to question our kilometer costs (which had been approved on the file for the last three years but she was covering the desk due to a vacation).  Again I spent 30 minutes on the phone explaining that this has never been challenged.  I did the math and she was disputing $4.80.  I asked her if she was seriously going to arrange for a $1500 assessment to question $4.80?  Apparently she was.  So I said “don’t worry about it then, I will eat the $4.80”.  I wonder if her employer knew that they paid her probably an hour of salary to save them $4.80.  Ridiculous.

But the biggest thing insurers and assessors need to remember is that the CLIENT has approved that time and those costs.  We are required to review our plans with those we are treating, and to get their signature and authorization.  We explain to people that often we spend significant time behind the scenes getting the job done.  They understand this and approve those expenses as “necessary” for their treatment.  Then, we demonstrate this to be the case as we remain in contact with them and are very proactive at helping them to function better – directly and indirectly.  Honestly, the nickel and diming is ultimately costing the industry more, and reducing the quality of care received by injured people.

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Keep the Faith… in Insurance? I Think Not.

I think as a society we have lost faith in insurers.  I don’t know many people who still believe that an insurer, any insurer, will be forthcoming with benefits or reimbursement at the time of claim.  I see many people, before claiming, actually weighing the pros and cons between the monies they should be entitled to and possible insurer delay, deny, mistreatment, and likely future rate increases.

My parents have some epic insurance examples in the world of travel.  Once, the place at which they were booked to stay went bankrupt.  They requested reimbursement through their travel insurance.  Surprise!  It does not cover bankruptcy, only if the place became unsafe for occupancy.  So my mom said to them “it is unsafe for her to vacation at a place that is bankrupt”. In another instance, extensive flooding caused the vacation destination to cancel the trip.  So, they again turned to cancellation insurance.  Surprise!  Their trip cancellation insurance did not cover trips being cancelled.  What?

I work in the world of insurance and I can tell you that there are still a wonderful number of insurers that really try to make the application and claims process as painless as possible.  After all, most of the people I see are in enough pain already and plenty of insurers get that.  Then, there are the ones that don’t.  Those are the insurers that have been jaded through poor training, company culture, talk at the water-cooler, or the one too many surveillance videos that caught someone being fraudulent.  I often wonder if some insurers are trained to make the process of claiming so difficult so that people eventually just give up and move on.

My solution to the perils of insurance is for people to start shopping for insurance based on feedback from people who have claimed, and not just on who offers the cheapest price.  Like most things, you will get what you pay for and cheaping out on insurance can result in crappy treatment at the time of claim.   And what happens when people are treated crappy?  They turn to the legal profession, and guess what?  This costs the insurers more.  In all insurance, especially auto, insurers need to exercise good faith, respect, understanding and compassion and this will go a long way in creating a more sustainable product.

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I Just Got In An Accident… Now What?

Car accidents, unfortunately, are a common occurrence.  From fender benders to large collisions and pedestrian accidents, it can happen to anyone, anytime.  Are you aware of the right steps to take after an accident?  The following from the Insurance Bureau of Canada gives you step by step tips, and even a checklist to keep in your car just in case.

 

IBC: What To Do After a Car Accident

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Can You Traffic Circle?

Working with people injured in car accidents is a straight path to insanity when I start to think about my own kids behind the wheel.  I am not sure I will ever feel comfortable with them borrowing the car, getting a ride with others, or even taking their siblings anywhere.  I apologize to my kids in advance for being a basket case when we get there.

 

But the fact that I now allow my 13 year old to ride in the front seat has made me acutely aware of the very important responsibility I have to model safe driving.  She watches me drive, asks questions, and is trying to understand the rules of the road.  I have three years to demonstrate to her how important it is to take this privilege seriously, and what safe driving looks like.

 

The problem is this:  driving, like many daily tasks, becomes highly overlearned.  This means that the brain can manage it without really “thinking”.  That explains why sometimes you might arrive somewhere, somewhat oblivious to the path you took to get there, or the sights you saw on the way.  This is especially true if the brain is distracted en route – via phone calls, checking messages at a stop light, enjoying breakfast, belting out your favorite tune, or talking to a passenger. So driving, as a skill, is something we can do without a lot of conscious thought and our behaviors when driving become more and more ingrained as we log more hours behind the wheel.

 

In being hyper-diligent about this new responsibility to model safe driving for my daughter, I have become attuned to some of the bad habits people have developed.  Some people drive too fast, some too slow (I see these as equally dangerous).  Some don’t signal, and some don’t turn the signal off.  Some people are too aggressive, too risky, and too impatient.  Others are too nervous, lack confidence, or don’t seem to recognize how dangerous it is to be hesitant and unpredictable.  Too many people are still holding their phone to their ear, or think that using the speakerphone instead of a headset is less-illegal (it is not if the phone is still in your hand).  People are still texting or emailing when driving, usually while controlling the steering wheel with their knees (if that were safe people without arms would do that too).  I see many people (especially in my neighborhood) that don’t “stop” at stop signs, but kind of “roll” through them – often after they have crossed the stopping line, and the sidewalk curb cut, and are already entering the intersection.  Pedestrians beware.  Traffic circles are another new problem.  When I was 16, my driver’s ed classes did not include “traffic circle 101” and based on how the teens drive near the high school in my neighborhood, I am not sure it does now either.  All too often I see people cut the circle, or when going straight fail to yield to someone already making a turn.  But the best (worst) thing I saw recently was a guy with a mini-van who was trying to transport his new mattress by holding this to the roof of his car with his left hand (while driving with his right).  Luckily when the mattress flew off into the traffic behind him, it didn’t cause an accident.

 

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the top five leading causes of death and injury for Canadian adults and children.  Getting a license at 16, that is not reviewed again until 80, should not be an automatic ticket to oblivion.  Take a moment to review your own habits behind the wheel.  Old habits die hard, and you don’t want these to kill you, or anyone else.  And if you are driving children, remember that little eyes are watching you and your children are likely to drive just like you – good or bad.

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Pedestrian Safety – Senior’s and Traffic

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

The other day I was driving through a busy parking lot.  I noticed an elderly man who parked his car, got out, and proceeded to walk through the parking lot without ever surveying his surroundings.  He did not see my vehicle approaching him, and did not appear to notice the other cars that had to stop to let him pass.  The other drivers looked both annoyed and perplexed that he could be so clueless.

According to the CDC “Increasing frailty may leave the elderly more vulnerable to being hit by traffic. Age-linked declines in mental function, vision and physical disabilities might place older adult pedestrians at greater risk for being struck by a vehicle.” (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_136049.html).

With this man, what I noticed was quite telling.  He was looking at his feet.  Many seniors do this when walking.  Why?  Because they are afraid to fall.  With a decline in physical ability comes problems negotiating uneven terrain.  Parking lots and sidewalks are full of holes, stones, and cracks that could be problematic for someone with declining mobility.  So, they stare at the ground to avoid falling, the entire time being unable to also look around at other risks in the environment.  And when you combine this with reduced peripheral vision, they may not notice vehicles approaching. 

Society expects seniors to “know better” in that they have been trained, over a lifetime, about the perils of traffic.  With children, we don’t expect them to know better because they are carefree and often move before thinking.  As driver’s we watch for children and take extra care when we see them around roads or in parking lots.  We also tend to take the same precautions when we notice someone who is more visibly disabled using a wheelchair, or white cane.  But disabilities are not always visible and we have to be careful to not make assumptions – especially with seniors who may have an unnoticeable visual, cognitive, physical or auditory problem.  

My message here is that drivers should be cautious with all pedestrians, but need to be especially mindful of seniors – much like they are with children or other people with visible disabilities.  Seniors deserve our patience and the extra time it might take to help them safely go about their day and negotiate the sometimes challenging outdoor environment. 

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Computer or Car Insurance…Gigabytes or IRB…

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

It is widely known in my industry that the people of Ontario generally don’t understand their auto insurance coverage – until they need it.  For example, when buying a new computer you might look at screen size, megabytes, RAM, GIGs, processor, operating system, anti-virus software and extended warranty.  But when buying car insurance do you look at the coverage for housekeeping, NEB, IRB, attendant care, med/rehab, liability, and care giving?  No?  So, it begs the question: why are you paying for something you don’t understand?

In a brilliant display of smoke and mirrors, your auto insurance company (via the Insurance Bureau of Canada – IBC) pulled some tomfoolery in 2010.  They didn’t increase your car insurance premiums, but dropped your coverage significantly.  So, in essence at renewal you got half (or less) of the coverage for the same price.  That is like spending the same money on your previous computer to now only get the monitor.  

So, being an educated consumer, I “bought up” and paid extra for the same coverage I had before the changes.  I am one of less than 1% of the population that did so.  Now, IBC is saying they are going to drop rates by 15%.  Well thank you oh noble insurers.  That will give me the same coverage I had before 2010 (because I bought up) for the same price (because of the rate reduction).  So, I am back to where I started, but the other 99% of the population are getting 50% of the coverage for 85% of the price.  They are still at a significant loss.

In a recent MBA class we talked about risk.   Driving a motor vehicle is the # 1 most unsafe activity when compared to 29 other activities people perceive to be risky (including smoking, drinking, extreme sports, risky professions, flying, etc.).  So, if driving is our riskiest activity, signifying a high probability of injury, why are consumers so unaware of their coverage?   Is it because we don’t think we will get in an accident (the “it won’t happen to me phenomenon”), or because insurance is “mandatory” we just purchase on price?

I find it strange that people take the process of buying a computer more seriously than the process of renewing insurance – especially when driving is the riskiest thing we do daily.  In a PC World survey (2012), 63% of people indicated they bought a computer “extended warranty” yet research repeatedly shows that the $16B spent yearly on extended warranties is a waste of money.  Compare this to the less than 1% of people that bought an “extended warranty” (i.e. extra coverage) on their car insurance.  Buyer Beware!  It is time that Ontario drivers start to understand the product that is car insurance so they can ensure they have appropriate coverage for an appropriate price.