The claimant suffered a brain injury and was deemed catastrophically impaired as a result of a 2011 accident. He received personal care from his brother, who left multiple part-time jobs to care for him. The Form 1 supported $6,000 per month in ACBs, but the claimant’s brother suffered an economic loss of $2,100 per month based on his income in the year prior to the accident; however, following the 2014 amendments to the SABS, the insurer paid $1,528.91 per month based on the average income earned by the brother in the three years prior to the accident. In 2018, the claimant hired a professional service provided in order to utilize the full $6,000 per month Form 1. The insurer received an invoice, but never paid it. The claimant sought entitlement to the full Form 1 amount, arguing that it was “deemed incurred” or that the 2014 amendments to the SABS did not apply. He also sought entitlement to HK expenses and a special award. Adjudicator Lester concluded that the 2014 amendments to the SABS applied and that the claimant was only entitled to the economic loss suffered by his brother. However, she accepted that lost opportunities and “fringe benefits” (IE, CPP, extended health care benefits) could form the basis of an economic loss, but required a sufficient evidentiary basis. The claimant did not have sufficient evidence to prove the projected scenarios he put before the Tribunal, so his economic loss was limited to his foregone wages. Adjudicator Lester also found services by the professional to be deemed incurred for a period of 10 months (the time between submission of the invoice up to the payment of the invoice). Adjudicator Lester awarded HK expenses, finding that the claimant was responsible for cleaning tasks prior to the accident and that he could no longer perform such tasks. Further, services were incurred because the claimant’s brother had given up his work. Finally, the adjudicator held that the insurer improperly withheld ACBs by paying only $1,528.91 per month. A special award of 50 percent based on the shortfall of $571.09 per month was granted for services provided by his brother, all amounts provided by the professional service provider which were deemed incurred, and all awarded HK expenses.
