Motor Vehicle Accidents

The law on motor vehicle accident in Ontario is divided into two parts. There are two possible types of compensation available to victims of motor vehicle accidents:

"Accident Benefits Claim" which are provided to the victim on a "no-fault" basis
"Tort Claim" which are provided only to victims who can prove that the other driver who caused the accident was "at fault" or "negligent"

You may have been told that "no-fault" means that you cannot sue the driver, or other persons responsible for a car accident, but this is simply not true. You can be compensated for pain and suffering, income loss, medical and other expenses from the person responsible for your injuries.

Accident Benefits

If you or someone your know was injured in a motor vehicle accident, one is entitled to accident benefits from your insurance company or the insurance company of another individual involved in the accident, no matter who was at fault in the accident.
Ontario's system of automobile insurance is a "no-fault" system. What "no-fault" means is that regardless of who is to blame for the accident, any injured persons may receive some compensation, the compensation available is referred to as accident benefits.
Therefore these benefits are available to any injured party in a car accident regardless of their role in the accident, be it a driver, a passenger or even a pedestrian.
Accident benefits are claimed from your own insurance company, therefore a driver, passenger or pedestrian will make a claim from their respective insurance companies. An Application for Accident Benefits should be completed and submitted to your own insurance company as soon as possible following a car accident.

Types of Accident Benefits

There are many types of accident benefits available to injured victims of motor vehicle accidents which include:

Income Replacement Benefit
Non-earner benefit
Caregiver benefit
Medical and rehabilitation benefits
Housekeeping and home maintenance benefit
Attendant care benefits
Visitors expenses

We would encourage you to contact one of our lawyers who specialize in personal injury law to assist you with your accident benefits claim to ensure that you are maximizing the benefits available to you under the insurance policy.

Making a Claim Against the "At Fault" Driver

In a tort claim, the personal injury victim sues the "negligent" party for the injuries sustained
The plaintiff has the burden of proving that the other driver was responsible for the accident

Legal "Threshold"

Before anyone can successfully sue for this category of damages, a person must prove that the injury "meets the threshold". This can only be done if the person can show that one of two types of injury has been sustained:

Permanent serious impairment of a important physical, mental or psychological function; or
Permanent serious disfigurement.

Monetary Deductible

If it is proved that a person's injury meets the threshold, there is a $30,000.00 monetary deductible from the amount of non-pecuniary damages that the injured person would otherwise receive.

Types of Damages

There are many types of damages available to injured victims of motor vehicle accidents in a tort claim including the following:

Non-pecuniary general damages (damages for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life and loss of amenities)
Loss of income
Loss of household and handyman capacity
Claim for some, not all, of the expenses that the injured person incurs that are not covered by no-fault expenses
Claim for the effect the accident has had on family members

We would encourage you to contact one of our lawyers who specialize in personal injury law to review with you the law in relation to your particular situation and develop a strategy to obtain a fair resolution to your claim.

The law on motor vehicle accident in Ontario is divided into two parts. There are two possible types of compensation available to victims of motor vehicle accidents:

"Accident Benefits Claim" which are provided to the victim on a "no-fault" basis
"Tort Claim" which are provided only to victims who can prove that the other driver who caused the accident was "at fault" or "negligent"