I was injured in a car accident in Ontario — what can I claim?
An Ontario motor vehicle injury produces two parallel claims: statutory accident benefits from your own insurer regardless of fault, and a tort claim against the at-fault driver subject to the threshold and statutory deductible.
Every injured person in Ontario has access to statutory accident benefits under the Insurance Act and the SABS, no matter who caused the crash. Those benefits cover medical and rehabilitation treatment, attendant care, and income replacement, and they are triggered by filing an application with your own insurer — normally within 30 days of receiving the forms.
A second, separate claim lies against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering and for losses the benefits do not cover. That claim is limited: general damages must meet the statutory threshold of a permanent and serious impairment, and a statutory deductible is applied to awards below a set amount.
Evidence decays quickly. Photographs, the police report, the names of witnesses and consistent medical documentation of your symptoms from the first days after the collision usually decide these files.
Source: Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8 · O. Reg. 34/10 (SABS)
This work is handled by Leena Kumar (Civil litigation). Read more about civil litigation at VK Law Group, or send us the facts and we will tell you where you stand.
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