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To those that do not look closely into this procedure’s details, it sounds like a new effort at delivering justice. Due to its deceptive appearance, it has recently been introduced in some legal systems. It could be described as a new step on the route taken by an injury victim, in order to win accident benefits.
What is a license appeal tribunal (LAT)?
A victim in search of accident benefits engages in this particular procedure after the initial claim has been denied, and the mediation has also proven unsuccessful. In those places where it gets used, the LAT replaces two procedures. In such locations, it forces the victim to take part in a special type of hearing.
The LAT hearing can take place as much as 8 months after coverage for a proposed treatment has been denied. The insurer’s time can be used for any purposes during that time; the policy holder (the victim) must design a treatment plan. If the LAT does produce a decision, that decision does not get released immediately. The victim can wait as long as 7 months to hear the results of the hearing.
Why the newly-introduced LAT-hearings are outdated
This new system encourages the creation of adversity and confrontation between the insurer and the victim. The insurer feels quite comfortable waiting to see how things will turn out. Meanwhile, the person that needs to get treated (the victim) must live with an ongoing uncertainty. For months on end, victims do not know if their proposed treatment method, one recommended by a physician or psychiatrist will be approved.
The insurer suffers no consequences at any time, even after losing or taking a decidedly unreasonable position. If the first treatment gets denied, the victim must file a second or third plan. During all that time, the victim’s ability to actually get treated remains uncertain.
The entire system seems outdated, rather than new. That is because it allows the insurance company to act like the judge, jury and enforcer during the judgment phase (the hearing). Moreover, every aspect of that same phase can be repeated over and over, with no consequences for the insurance company and no promise of a victim’s award.
Furthermore, the fact that the LAT replaces both the jury trial and the arbitration process means a reduction in the number of options available to any of the injured victims. Instead, when any one of them has failed to settle with the insurer, after using mediation, then each of them must choose between two options, rather than three.
Each of those same injured persons must give up, or pursue a license appeal tribunal. What are the victim’s chances for coming out a winner, following such a tribunal? The chances are small, unless the person seeking the benefits decides to contact an attorney, and to be one half of a victim-lawyer partnership. However, the accident victim seeking compensation needs to discuss their specific case with Personal Injury Lawyer Orillia.