5
How do we get the letter from WSIB stating that I don't need the WSIB coverage as our company has only family members are drivers?
Thank you very much for clarifying. I will give call to WSIB this week and figure out how we can get the coverage. You're right, we have missed many loads at the last moment just coz of WSIB.This would be difficult loadbeaver. Even if you had a WSIB clearance letter on file for each and every owner operator, unless you are the only person running the show, you still need WSIB for your office staff. Family members are not exempt from this requirement unless they also are part owners of the company, I believe. Even if by chance you are the only person running the show and all the owner-operators had a clearance certificate, it would be difficult to convince a broker to accept your story. You could offer to send the clearance for the driver you are assigning to their load, but it would be a hard sell to get them to accept this. How would they know that the driver you are assigning is the one that has the clearance certificate? Then they would still want to see some sort of alternative coverage for that driver. This is a risk they generally are not interested in taking. In short, get registered with WSIB whether you agree with the basic principle or not. If your drivers are exempt then put your office staff on the account, you should already be paying premiums for them anyway. If you don't have office staff, then put yourself on the account and pay premiums on your salary. This will provide a the necessary paperwork to give to the broker. But it sounds to me like you might be trying to avoid paying for WSIB by any means you can find. That will be a big problem for you if/when they find out, plus you are shutting the doors on most reputable brokers as they will not let you work for them. You will not give them the feeling of legitimacy until you do. Get yourself educated about the requirements and for heaven's sake, pay the premiums required.
that form is called an 1149a form which is from WSIB. You send in details about the contractor and they will send you verification of true “independent” status. Although still recommended those contractors get alternative coverage and you document their own personal lines insurance policy numbers to help preserve your insurance policy from having a claim under your Accident Benefits.As far as I know, the letter of exemption is used by a carrier to prove that an independent owner operator meets the requirements of a contractor and not an employee. With this letter a carrier does not have to pay WSIB on the portion of funds paid to the owner operator. However, the owner operator still requires to have alternate coverage and the carrier should regularly confirm that it exists. The carrier should still be registered with WSIB and have an account number/firm number.
The broker uses their WSIB portal to obtain certificates to ensure compliancy with the WSIB program. If the broker continues to use a carrier after identifying that the clearance certificate has expires/failed that opens up the broker to possible compliancy issues with WSIB.