Understand your rights and responsibilities as a Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation (MPIC) (www.mpi.mb.ca) injury claimant.  Familiarize yourself with the information in the MPIC brochures and pamphlets.  MPIC also publishes a coil bound book titled Personal Injury Protection Plan Your Guide which provides information (and contradictions...more on that later). 

The MPIC Act (http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/p215e.php) and Regulations (http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/regs/p215e.php) are highly recommended reading. The MPIC Act and Regulations are also available in print (for a fee) from the Queen's Printer (http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/statpub/) and are a valuable resource to assist in understanding your entitlements as an insured.

Please obtain and maintain a complete copy of your file.  You are entitled to an initial free copy and updates of your claim’s file.  Do not throw anything out.  You may request a copy of your claim file in writing, MPIC should be able to provide this to you within 30 days.

Realize that your adjuster is in a conflict of interest.  The claims adjuster is managing your claim but also defending the Corporation’s position (and financial bottom-line).  As a claimant, you need to be truthful and helpful however, you shouldn’t be too naïve.  Don’t say anything that may be misconstrued and used against you to jeopardize your claim. You may wish to have a lawyer do the work for you from the very beginning of your claim.  

If you disagree with any claim decision made by your adjuster, such as denial or termination of your PIPP benefits, you have the right, within 60 days, to request that MPIC’s legal department conduct an Internal Review of the adjuster’s decision.  If you are dissatisfied with the subsequent decision of the Internal Review Office you have the right to appeal to an external independent tribunal—the Automobile Injury Compensation Appeal Commission (AICAC) (http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/cca/autom/index.html).  Claimants have 90 days to make an appeal to AICAC.

MPIC maintains a substantial herd of lawyers (yes, funded by our premium dollars).  These lawyers are experienced in attending hearings at AICAC.  Interestingly, MPIC says that claimants don't need lawyers and it makes me wonder why they believe that they do.  The entire process is adversarial, don't allow them to tell you otherwise. 

AICAC, apart from being funded by MPIC, is independent from MPIC.  AICAC is an independent appeal body for claimants who disagree with an Internal Review decision made by MPIC.  If you would like AICAC to hear your appeal you may choose to ask for the assistance of an advocate from the Claimant Advisor Office (CAO) (http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/cca/claimant/index.html), the CAO is also funded by MPIC but otherwise independent from MPIC.  The advocate from the Claimant Advisor Office most likely won't be a lawyer but is likely someone who has a background in advocacy.

Familiarize yourself with the written decisions of AICAC.  The AICAC decisions can be studied at their office. AICAC’s decisions are available to subscribers of QuickLaw (http://www.lexisnexis.ca/ql/index.php).  AICAC’s decisions may soon be available on the internet cost-free. 

Both your claim file and AICAC’s decisions are a great source of information.  Familiarizing yourself with both will shed light on the workings of your own file, other claimants files and the adjudications of contentious claims.  You are not the only one.

It is my personal opinion that all contact should be in writing, this leaves nothing to be misunderstood or misinterpreted.  Contact with your adjuster, by phone or in-person, is very questionable.  In my experience, the notes made by the adjuster regarding conversations have been less than an accurate representation of the actual words exchanged.  The choice is yours.  Consider yourself forewarned.  Record conversations (tell them you are doing so) and document all contact and meetings with your adjuster (date, time, place, attendees).  It is perhaps more prudent to always have a family member or a friend accompany you to all meetings at MPIC, in addition to recording.  Of course, keep all correspondence. 

Accurate and comprehensive documentation of the very first contact and meetings between you and your adjuster are important.  Often problems with contentious claims can be traced back to initial contact when there may have been miscommunication (or simply lack of a witness).

If you are dissatisfied with the MPIC policies or the behaviour of a MPIC employee you can take your complaint to the MPIC Fair Practices Office, though a number of us are sceptical of this office and their willingness to address the systemic problems at MPIC.

You can also take your concerns to the Minister Responsible for Manitoba Public Insurance (historically the Minister of Justice), though the Minister’s office has a history of employing personnel who are on MPIC’s payroll.  See http://www.gov.mb.ca/index.html, good luck, you will need it.

There is also the Manitoba Ombudsman(http://www.ombudsman.mb.ca/), though that office can’t address employee behaviour.  The Ombudsman is limited to making recommendations to MPIC regarding issues that they investigate.  There is no enforcement capability.  Again, good luck.  Consider saving your energy.