What is an OCF-3 Disability Certificate?
If you have been injured in an accident in Ontario, you will likely need medical help and you may even need legal help. Your insurance company is often one of the first calls that get made. Typically, your insurance company will start your claim by sending you a package to complete. In this package, you will be required to fill out many detailed forms. These forms are extremely important and often are of great importance when it comes time to settle your case. That is why it is so important to make sure they are filled out correctly. Insurance companies can deny a claim if there is misleading information on the forms.
OCF 3: Disability Certificate
One of the first forms to fill out is the OCF 3; otherwise known as the Disability Certificate OCF-3. The OCF-3 Disability form needs to be filled out by you and your health practitioner (this could be your chiropractor, dentist, occupational therapist, nurse practitioner, optometrist, physician, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, psychologist or speech-language pathologist). Your insurance company will pay for the completed OCF-3. There is no expense charged to you.
Insurance Claims
If you or a loved one has been injured in an Ontario car accident and you are applying for Accident Benefits, you must fill out a Disability Certificate. Your doctor will need to fill out a Disability Certificate OCF-3 from your insurance company. The OCF-3 Disability Certificate form can be found at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario site. The manner in which this is filled out is extremely important. It is important to be completely honest with your doctor and have your doctor fill out the form in as much detail as possible. It’s important to include all personal injuries on the form, including psychological injuries, any mental injuries, emotional injuries etc.. Be as detailed as possible. The last thing you want is to be suffering from an injury down the road and have the insurance company deny your claim because you didn’t give all the information at the time of the accident. You may need therapy later on and not know it at the time of your injury. Somethings to keep in mind…
Have you been previously injured in an accident? Do you suffer from pre-existing conditions? Some pre-existing conditions could affect the outcome of your claim. Your doctor needs to be extremely thorough. What other injuries does your doctor suspect go along with your injury? Do you get headaches? Are you having trouble with bright lights and loud noises? Are there neurological injuries? Are you having concentration difficulties? Do you feel pain anywhere else? This all needs to be documented on your Disability Certificate OCF-3 form.
Where a Lawyer can help with a Disability Certificate OCF-3 form.
Some of the OCF-3 Disability Certificate is fairly standard. You need to complete your name, date of birth, gender, address, and employment status.
Another section of the Disability Certificate OCF-3 requires you to fill out all insurance information. If you were a pedestrian at the time of the car accident, you are required to fill out the insurance information of the other driver that hit you. This information can also be found in the Police Report. If neither drivers nor accident victims have insurance there is a special fund set up by the government called Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. It is difficult to be considered for this fund and it would be best if you get the help of an Ontario injury lawyer when making a claim to the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund.
The most difficult section of the Disability Certificate OCF-3 is the third section. It is in this section that accident victims must fill out the details of the car accident and indicate what personal injuries resulted from the accident. You need to make sure that all the information provided in this section is the same information given in your police report. Take your time and fill it out carefully. It is always best to consult with your Ontario injury lawyer to make sure you do not write anything that might jeopardize your case.
The next section of the Disability Certificate OCF-3 form is the section that requires you to enlist the help of your family doctor, surgeons, therapists, physiotherapist, psychologist, speech-language pathologist, or any other health care professional listed on the form OCF-3. Not only do they need to identify your injuries, but they also need to give an opinion on your recovery status. Your health professionals must decide if you are capable of returning to work and day-in/day-out activities. This is particularly challenging as often only time will tell in these situations.
Filing out complex insurance forms can be very difficult and stressful. It shouldn’t be! You are already dealing with enough. As some of the most dedicated Ottawa personal injury lawyers, we help all of our personal injury clients fill out these forms correctly, so as not to jeopardize anything. There is far too much at risk and we want to help. We can help. If you have a question, or would simply just like some help filling out your Disability Certificate OCF-3, we would be happy to help. We won’t charge you. These are forms we fill out every day and it is far easier for us to do than for you to do. Let us help you and you can focus on your recovery. Feel free to call us at (613) 978-9549 or email david@ottawainjury.ca
