On December 17, 2013, the Government published Ontario
Regulation 347/13, amending the Statutory Accident Benefits
Schedule. This Regulation will come into force on February 1,
2014.
The changes will affect, among other things, the pre-existing
condition provisions of the Minor Injury Guideline (MIG). These
changes provide additional hurdles for injured plaintiffs seeking
to obtain accident benefits.
The new regulation tightens up the requirements under Subsection
18(2) and 38(3)(c)(i)(B) to avoid the MIG. Previously, the
MIG did not apply if a health practitioner determined and provided
compelling evidence that the injured person had a pre-existing
medical condition that would prevent this person from achieving
maximal medical recovery. The new change requires the
pre-existing medical condition to be documented by a health
practitioner before the accident. Therefore, injured plaintiffs
who do not have a doctor or failed to see a doctor for a condition
will