Non-Earner Benefits | Income Replacement

A non-earner benefit Ontario attorney should be contacted as soon as possible after you have sustained serious injuries in an accident. The non-earner benefit is often misunderstood, but the recovery of this benefit could help you significantly after you have been hurt in an accident.

Basics of Non-Earner Benefits in Ontario

In general, non-earner benefits are payments made weekly and given to accident victims unable to recover wages before a serious accident because of their severe injuries. The statutory accident benefits schedule outlines the type of non-earner benefits available to victims. To qualify for non-earner benefits, you must meet at least one of the below criteria.

The first is that the injured individual has to have suffered a total inability to go on with their normal life because of an accident. This must occur no later than 104 weeks beyond the accident and the person must not be able to receive income replacement benefits.

The second criteria is that the victim is unable to lead life normally as a result of the accident and graduated in the last 12 months but hadn’t yet secured employment for higher education or was in school full-time before the incident happened.

In basic terms, non-earner accident benefits in Ontario are available for people who do not qualify for income replacement/caregiver benefits or eligible students over the age of 16. 

Support from a Dedicated Disability Injury Team

The experienced non-earner benefits attorneys at Diamond & Diamond will be able to help you recover compensation in the form of non-earner benefits if these situations apply to you. The determination of how much you will receive as a non-earner benefit is determined by a clear formula. This is in comparison to income replacement benefits. Non-earner benefits cannot change.

Long-Term Help from Personal Injury Lawyers

Non-earners are eligible for benefit immediately. There are two types of non-earners benefits, each of which comes with a clear benefit amount.

After the two-year mark, if the claimant was enrolled in school at the time the injury was sustained, the weekly entitlement may increase to $320. For as long as two years, including after the 26 weeks following the accident and to the 2-year mark, the non-earners get a weekly amount of $185. There are numerous different factors in considering whether someone is entitled to non-earner benefits. Although the statutes may seem relatively clear, it can be difficult to figure out non-earner benefits, which is why you would want to hire experienced non-earner benefit attorneys at Diamond & Diamond. This is largely because courts look at numerous different factors in determining whether or not someone could indeed recover a weekly benefit.

What Factors Influence Ability to Get Benefits?

The common questions that are asked by the court in the determination of this process have to do with whether or not there is a total lack of ability to carry on with normal activities and normal life compared with the period prior to injury, whether or not claimant’s degree of claim prevents him or her from living life normally, and whether or not the disability substantially and continuously affects the person from participating in all the pre-accident activities.

If you have already been involved in an auto accident in Ontario, you may be curious about non-earner and other types of benefits. The support of a dedicated attorney like those working at Diamond & Diamond will help you with your non-earner benefits claims.

Turn to a lawyer focusing on non-earner benefits in Ontario, who can help you to figure out what is most applicable in your case and how to proceed to recover maximum compensation. You deserve to have the personalized support provided by a leading personal injury firm who has helped many different people recover the accident benefits they need.