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Insurance is supposed to cover the costs if you are seriously and permanently injured in a car accident in Ontario. It’s supposed to cover you if you’re at fault for the accident and it’s supposed to cover you if you have been injured by someone else’s negligent behavior. If you are the victim and have been injured in a vehicle accident caused by someone else, you have the write to claim for damages such as loss of income, healthcare expenses, pain and suffering, and out of pocket expenses. In most cases, the insurance company that covers the defendant pays the costs for these damages. But what happens when the person causing the accident has no insurance, or not enough insurance, or leaves the scene of the accident in a way that no one knows who caused the injuries? Is the victim still covered?
Mandatory Vehicle Insurance Limits in Ontario
The good news is that in Ontario, every driver is legally obligated to care $200,000 in third party liability. Even though this sounds like a lot, it’s really not a significant amount of money when the cost of injuries sky rockets. There are options to choose higher amounts of third party liability coverage and there’s usually an extra fee involved. It’s often a good idea to increase the coverage of third party liability insurance.
At the minimum $200,000 third liability insurance, a driver is often under insured. If that person is at fault in an accident, there may not be sufficient funds to help cover the costs of the injuries to the person they hurt. You will get a maximum of $200,000, and there are times when this amount may not be enough to cover lost wages and healthcare expenses.
If you, as the plaintiff, have higher third party liability insurance, the insurance company will pay expenses up to $200,000 from the person who hit you and then the remainder of the costs associated with your injury will come from your insurance policy. So if the person who hit you has $200,000 liability insurance and you have two million, you will be covered for a maximum of two million dollars with a maximum of one million eight hundred thousand coming from your insurance.
Your insurance company will pay for damages up to the level of third party insurance you’ve bought if the driver who hurt and injured you is uninsured or unidentified (hit and run). Your personal injury lawyer in Cambridge can help.
Several People Injured in Accident
If there are several people injured in an accident, the total amount of third party liability insurance will be divided among the number of people injured. If your third party liability matches the defendant’s policy, you will not be able to make a claim against both the policies. If your third party liability is higher than the defendants, the defendant is considered under insured and your policy will make up the difference.
Regardless of the level of third party insurance each party has, the plaintiff is required to make a claim within a certain period of time in order for it to be considered. Claims usually must be made within two years from the date of the accident.