Our goal is to help you resume your normal pre-accident activities as much as possible. To assist your recovery and offset economic hardship, the Personal Injury Protection Plan (PIPP) provides compensation for treatment costs and a range of economic losses.
Coverage
Rehabilitation coverage includes, where appropriate:
- home renovations
- transportation assistance and vehicle modifications
- services, such as assessments and treatment by specialized health care practitioners
- equipment such as specialized kitchen aids
The type of rehabilitation assistance you receive depends on many factors, including your medical condition, employment options, retraining possibilities and progress towards recovery.
If you can’t return to your pre-accident job, we’ll help you identify other employment options. Again, the kind of help we’ll provide depends on the circumstances. The options could include job search assistance, on-the-job training or other training.
Your medical/rehabilitation team will recommend appropriate rehabilitation strategies in a Rehabilitation Plan. The team includes you, your doctor and/or other care providers, and your case manager. MPI makes decisions about rehabilitation funding.
Pre-accident condition
As your insurer, our goal is helping you return to the situation you were in before the accident. Sometimes, this goal is easily met within a few weeks. Sometimes, it takes longer. In the most serious cases, it’s not possible for you ever to be exactly as you were before the accident. Rehabilitation coverage provides you with various types of support to assist your recovery and your return to normal activities, to the greatest extent possible.
Rehabilitation coverage is flexible and depends on each claimant’s personal situation and needs. Unlike other parts of PIPP coverage where the entitlement to a benefit or indemnity is precisely set in the legislation, rehabilitation expenses are considered extraordinary expenses that depend on individual circumstances.
We ask the following types of questions when deciding on coverage for a rehabilitation expense:
- Is this rehabilitation strategy necessary for this person?
- Is it advisable?
- Is this rehabilitation strategy likely to help this person lead a more independent and productive life?
We look at the Rehabilitation Plan and the recommendations of the medical/rehabilitation team when making our decision.
Medical/rehabilitation team
The composition of your medical/rehab team depends on the type of injuries you have and the type of treatment you’re receiving. Your medical/rehab team usually includes the health care practitioners who are working most closely with you, such as your doctor, chiropractor, physiotherapist or athletic therapist, rehabilitation counselor and nurse practitioner, as well as your case manager, other MPI employees, members of your family and yourself.
You are the most important person on the medical/rehabilitation team. It’s your commitment to recovery and to your Rehabilitation Plan that will be a deciding factor in whether or not a rehabilitation expense seems necessary and advisable.
The medical/rehabilitation team prepares a Rehabilitation Plan and recommends strategies that it believes will facilitate your independence and employment.
Employment and training support
PIPP coverage helps you get back to work. The financial help available depends on the type of injuries sustained in the accident and your post-accident skills and abilities.
The goal, if possible, is for you to return to the same employer to do the same work you were doing before the accident. If returning to your previous employment isn’t possible and you don’t have the skills for other employment that will help recapture your lost income, we can help retrain you. For example, we might provide vocational counseling or training courses. We can also assist you with resume writing and with your job search.
Home, vehicle and special equipment
When a serious disability requires it, we’ll pay for alterations to your home so that you can better manage your daily needs independently. For example, PIPP might cover the cost of installing special bathroom fixtures or more easily accessible kitchen counters. PIPP may also cover moving costs if your home is no longer suitable for your needs.
In some serious situations when the injuries you sustained are permanent, we’ll pay to adapt one or more of your vehicles so that you can continue to drive despite your injuries. PIPP also covers alterations to vehicles owned by you or your immediate family so that you can travel in the vehicle as a passenger.
In addition to alterations to your home or vehicle, your medical/rehabilitation team may also determine that special equipment would assist you with daily living or workplace tasks. For example, PIPP may pay for a hospital-type bed or an orthopedic insert for your office chair. Depending on the situation, we’ll either rent or purchase the equipment for you.
Leisure and recreational activities
If you have been catastrophically injured in a motor vehicle accident, or have a non-catastrophic permanent impairment (not related to scarring, musculotendinous disruptions, ligaments or cartilage damage) resulting from a motor vehicle accident, you may be eligible for assistance to help you participate in leisure and/or recreational activities.
For example, if you were an athlete prior to your accident, PIPP will pay for a specialized sport wheelchair that will allow you to continue to be active in sports. If you are a theatre fan and now require an assistant to accompany you, PIPP will pay for a ticket for your assistant to attend the event with you.
The amount you will be reimbursed is dependent upon the severity of your injury. Your case manager will be able to discuss this with you in greater detail. Please refer to the PIPP Benefits outline for the current reimbursement rate.
Meal allowances
Meal allowances can be claimed when you are required to travel for the purpose of receiving treatment, participating in rehabilitation or undergoing a medical examination at the request of MPI. The allowance may also be claimed for a companion or assistant when required due to your age or health status.
Please see the PIPP benefits page for the amounts that apply this year.
Your rehabilitation plan
Your medical/rehabilitation team will work with you to develop a rehabilitation plan. The plan will set out the expected length and goals of treatment. It may also include milestones and a schedule of times to re-evaluate the plan.
The rehabilitation plan is personal to you and your situation. It should realistically reflect what you can achieve through treatment, effort and time. It can also identify expenditures that could help you to achieve these goals. Your commitment to the rehabilitation plan and your ongoing efforts to follow it are the keys to your recovery.