The claimant applied to the insurer for IRBs and ACBs. The insurer paid the claimant an IRB from her initial eligibility until August 22, 2019. The insurer had arranged four IEs in July of 2019, which the claimant did not attend. The insurer rescheduled all four IEs to provide the claimant another chance to attend, but she failed to attend all four IEs yet again. Similarly, the claimant failed to attend numerous IEs to address ACBs, which were also rescheduled but resulted in no-shows. The insurer paid the claimant ACBs up until it was suspended for non-compliance with section 44. The claimant argued that the IEs were neither “reasonable nor necessary” to determine her entitlement to the benefits. The insurer raised a preliminary issue that the claimant’s application disputing IRBs and ACBs should be dismissed under section 55 and relied upon the test in A.G. v. Allstate Insurance. Adjudicator Grant ruled that the insurer had provided proper notice to the claimant of the IEs in question, that the notices were compliant with the SABS, and that the IEs were medically reasonable and necessary in order to determine entitlement to disputed benefits based upon the claimant’s own medical evidence showing shoulder surgery. Adjudicator Grant ruled that the claimant’s application was barred in its entirety.
