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IRB Entitlement Update: Self-Employment Does Not Count Toward the 26/52 Employment Test
A recent Licence Appeal Tribunal decision provides important clarification on Income Replacement Benefit (“IRB”) entitlement where a claimant has a mixed history of employment and self-employment. In Zeineddine v. Economical Mutual Insurance Co., the Tribunal confirmed that weeks of self-employment cannot be counted toward the requirement of being employed for at least 26 weeks in…
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Income for Support: Sole Proprietors vs. Corporations in Canadian Family Law
In family law matters such as child support and spousal support, the first critical step is determining a party’s income available for support. For salaried employees, this is often straightforward: the amount reported on Line 15000 of the personal income tax return is used as the baseline. But when a person is self-employed – whether…
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Self-Employed SABS Claims: Last Tax Year vs. 52 Weeks?
Calculating Income Replacement Benefits (IRBs) for self-employed individuals under Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) can be deceptively complex. One of the most contested issues? Whether IRBs should be based on the claimant’s last completed taxation year or on the 52 weeks immediately prior to the accident. Recent decisions from Ontario’s Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT),…
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The Self-Employed Client: How to Build a Defensible IRB Claim
For lawyers and law clerks supporting self-employed clients in Statutory Accident Benefits (SABS) claims, Income Replacement Benefits (IRBs) can be one of the most complex benefits to quantify and defend. Unlike salaried employees, sole proprietors or incorporated owners rarely maintain clean accounting, and their reported income often doesn’t tell the full story. To make a…
