Nuts and Bolts: Understanding SGI’s Permanent Impairment Benefits

If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident and are a resident of Saskatchewan, you may qualify for what are called Permanent Impairment Benefits . 

These benefits, determined according to a Schedule in our provincial regulations, will give you money to compensate for injuries that do (or are likely to) have some permanent effect. 

Generally, things like sprains, strains, and whiplash will not qualify for a permanent impairment, because they are expected to fully heal. (And in Saskatchewan they always do, though in other provinces and countries a small percentage of people do become permanently impaired from these types of injuries. That argument is for another day.)

Now, the difficulty is that this chart of permanent impairments is from the insurance world, and specifically, the no-fault insurance world. It’s not something that doctors, physiotherapists, and chiropractors are taught in school, and information that is needed for the insurance chart isn’t always relevant to a doctor treating you. This is important because SGI will ask their consultant to determine a person’s entitlement to Permanent Impairment Benefits based on what is on their medical file. If the information that is needed to determine whether you are entitled to benefits is not documented in the file, SGI’s consultant may not ask for that information and may not award the benefit. It also happens that information that is properly documented on a file of an injury that would translate to a permanent impairment benefit is missed or overlooked by SGI’s consultants. 

It is always helpful to get another opinion. If you have received a decision from SGI about Permanent Impairment Benefits, please contact me for a consultation.