Frequently Asked Questions

NO. Legal defence coverage provides coverage for the legal fees involved in defending AGAINST a covered charge or law suit. If you sue someone (including a spouse in a family proceeding), legal fees are NOT covered. The only exception to this is legal fees if you are a plaintiff in a mutual separation or mutual divorce agreements or matrimonial legal proceedings commenced on or after February 26, 2011.

• Who is covered:
  Regular and PWU Hiring Hall members in good standing of the Power Workers’ Union who reside in Ontario or Quebec. This includes:
  • Regular full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees
  • Members of the PWU Hiring Hall, meaning those members who pay out of work dues to the PWU
  • Nuclear Term Employees who are members of the PWU Hiring Hall , meaning those who pay out of work dues to the PWU Hiring Hall
  • Probationary regular employees
  • Employees on Long Term Disability
  • Quebec residents are also eligible.
  • • Covered family members
      • Spouse – Includes:
        • A person legally married to the employee
        • A person who is publicly represented by the employee as their spouse
        • A same sex partner
          Notes:
          • Divorced spouses are not covered
          • Only one person can be considered a qualified spouse at any one time. In the event that an employee takes up residence with an individual and publicly represents that individual as their spouse, the spousal status of any other individual is automatically terminated.
      • Children
        • Includes any child of the employee or their spouse, and legally adopted children, who must meet all of the following criteria:
          • Must be unmarried
          • Must be unemployed
          • Must be attending school full time (in which case the student may be employed outside school attendance times)
          • Must be under 24 years old
      • Other qualified dependents
        • Children to whom the employee stands in the position of a parent for purposes of the Income Tax Act, the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act. This may include nieces, nephews, or grandchildren. Such dependents are covered only if they meet the following conditions:
          • Under age 19, and
          • Is a resident in Canada living with the employee, and
          • Is fully dependent for support, food/shelter on the employee and
          • Has a personal income of less than the basic personal amount under the Income Tax Act.
• Who is NOT covered
  • Pensioners, retirees. Members can arrange to purchase coverage prior to retirement (See FAQ 10 and 11 below)
  • Temporary members
  • Transit Card Holders, such as members referred to work by other trade unions
  • Nuclear Term Employees who are NOT members of the PWU Hiring Hall (i.e., they do not pay out of work dues to the PWU Hiring Hall)
  • Contract employees

1. Will the PWU have access to any information?
   Any information obtained by the PWU from the registration form is strictly owned, managed, and controlled by the PWU and is collected, retained and used only for purposes of keeping track of and engaging in Union business, including the representation of the PWU membership. Consistent with these purposes the information will be used only by the PWU and those involved in the administration of the PWUPP and:
   • This information will not be accessible by anyone else.
   • This information will not be used by any other third parties for any purpose.
   • The information and membership list will not be used to solicit or sell anything.
2. What happens if I have a claim… will anyone see any information about my claim?
   Any information obtained as part of a claim or Incident Report is strictly private and confidential information between you (Member of the Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan) and the Program Manager. Other than monetary information used to administer the Program,:
   • The PWU will not be notified or informed by the  Program Manager about any details of any claim in respect of an identified individual without the individual’s consent. The PWU will not be given any kind of records or information containing details of specific claims without your consent. This information is strictly protected, and is private and confidential.
   • Insurance companies (such as the provider of title insurance for the PWUPP) are subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). They cannot and will not use, share, or distribute any of your information in any way, except strictly for the purposes of managing, adjusting, and settling your claim
   • The PWU has taken great care in choosing trusted, reputable insurers and Program Manager and developing contracts and agreements to safeguard the security of everyone covered by the Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan.
   • Note : To learn more about privacy, your rights, and PIPEDA, go to https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/your-privacy-rights/.
3. Will anyone be able to access or use any of the information I submit as part of registration or in the event of a claim?
   Please click here for the Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan Privacy Statement.

• Call the Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan Call Centre.
  • Rest assured that the Call Centre is secure, private and confidential.

• The Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan works closely with professional, independent insurance brokers – Purves Redmond Limited.
  • Purves Redmond Limited is there to provide help, assistance and support to the PWU and its members with respect to the Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan.
  • Purves Redmond Limited also has a strong claims team to support you if there is a problem or issue with a claim.
  • If necessary, the Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan Call Centre will get in touch with Purves Redmond Limited on your behalf.

Purves Redmond Limited (“PRL”) is appointed as the PWUPP members’ representative and consultant for the Power Workers’ Union Protection Plan. Simply put, Purves Redmond Limited co-ordinates coverage, answers your questions, services and helps you with your issues or complaints, and ensures you are treated fairly by the Program Manager – especially in the event of a claim.

PRL work in your best interest as a PWUPP plan member to advocate your interests to the Program Manager.

PRL pride themselves on offering personalized, caring service to PWUPP members. They understand the confusion and stress felt when a loss occurs. If you need help or if a problem arises, Purves Redmond Limited will help guide you through the claims process.

Purves Redmond Limited has the staff, resources, expertise, and clout with the insurance companies and Program Manager to be of assistance and to support you when you need them.

Everyone who owns residential property!
Mortgage fraud is an increasing problem in Canada and the US. Title insurance addresses some of the impact felt by residential property owners who find themselves victims of this kind of fraud.

Existing Property Owners
Over the last many years it has been common for real estate lawyers to include title insurance in every new home or condo purchase. If you bought your house, condo, cottage, or farm more than five years ago, chances are you don’t have title insurance.

New Property Owners
If you are planning to buy a house, condo, cottage, or farm on or after February 26th, 2007 PWUPP can save you the added expense of purchasing the insurance through your lawyer.

Should you register for Title Insurance through PWUPP?

• YES, if you already own a house, condo or other residential property and don’t have title insurance on that property.
• YES, if your primary residence is protected by title insurance but any secondary residences you own are not protected. You can apply the PWUPP coverage to a secondary residence, e.g. cottage, rental property, farm, etc.
• YES, if you are buying a home, condo or other residential property after February 26th, 2007 you can save $300 to $500 (or more depending on your lawyer, insurer, and value of the property) by registering for coverage with PWUPP.
• Note that members whose home purchases are paid for by their employer must exhaust eligibility for title insurance payment from their employer first before having recourse to this policy.

Click here for the insurance summary main page

Quebec members are eligible for all coverages. However, there may be some differences in terms of reimbursements due to the Quebec Civil Code. We will work with you to ensure a seamless product offering.

When you call to register, identify yourself as a Quebec Member of the Power Workers’ Union.

The Union carefully considered whether it could make accessible to its members and retirees a valuable coverage package. Cost combined with the number of retirees (which substantially exceeds the number of active members) made it impossible for the Union to do so, taking account of the requirement that the Plan be funded in a fiscally prudent manner. Regular members and PWU Hiring Hall members are eligible.

Members wishing to purchase retirement coverage must contact the PWUPP Call Centre at 1-877-393-0338 at least 30 days prior to retirement to ensure that they can continue coverage seamlessly. Although retirement does not affect title insurance coverage legal defence coverage continues only until the first April 11th following retirement and ID Theft coverage continues only until the first July 31^st after retirement. It is important that the purchase of legal defiance and ID Theft coverage beyond that point is arranged prior to retirement.

Retirees may buy title insurance at their own expense by contacting the PWUPP Call Centre.

Members who wish to purchase Legal Defence/ID Theft coverage must purchase Active Retiree Membership, which includes such coverage. Eligibility requirements are set out in the application form available by clicking here and include:

• PWU legal defence coverage is NOT available for purchase by any of the following Members:
  Members who, within the 5 years prior to the application date either:
  • Have been charged with a criminal offence and the charges have not been finally disposed of, OR
  • Have been convicted of a criminal offence for which a pardon (record suspension) has not been granted.
• Members who have not had continuous coverage since retirement.
• NOTE: Family members who do not meet similar criteria will not be covered even where the member is.

NOTE that members of the PWU Chapter of Retirees have access to ID Theft coverage provided by CyberScout at no additional cost to them and do not need to purchase that product.

Yes, as follows:

• A PWUPP member who retires retains title insurance on his or her registered property for as long as he/she retains a registered interest in the property
  • Note also that a member may register a property, the title of which is held solely by the member’s spouse, but only if the member is one of the occupants of the property. In this case, the spouse would retain title insurance on his or her registered property for as long as he/she retains a registered interest in the property.
• The member remains covered for identity theft and legal defence for incidents that occurred during the entire annual Program period in which the member retired so long as the member has reported them to the Program Manager (Call Center or Crawford) within either 90 days of retirement or within 45 days of becoming aware of such loss or claim. Such a member would be covered for claims that occurred during that timeframe and which are reported to the Program Manager during that timeframe.
  • Because of the payment structure arranged by the PWU (Program period running annually from April 11th each year for legal defence and July 31^st for ID Theft), if a member retires in March of a year, but has his or her identity stolen in June of that year, they are covered for the incident.
  • Moreover, if he or she is sued or charged criminally with respect to an incident that occurred during that Program period, he or she would still be covered by the PWUPP in respect of that incident. However, please note that notice of claim must be given to the Program Manager before expiration of that Program period.
  • Therefore, a member who is going to retire and becomes aware of an incident that may give rise to a civil suit or criminal charge against the member should ensure that he or she notifies the Program Manager of the potential claim before the end of the Program period in which the event occurs.
  • Example: Member A is the subject of a criminal investigation resulting from a physical altercation that took place in June and the member retires the next October. The member must inform the Program Manager of the event (even though no charges have been laid) before April 11 of the next year, the date on which his coverage ends.

Legal fees are only covered if the proximate cause is on or after inception date of the Program, being February 26th, 2007. Even if your bills are incurred after this date, the Program will not respond if the criminal act, negligence, or other events (which necessitated the legal fees) occurred before February 26th, 2007.

All of the above are Rev. #2 05/30/2014