Accident Benefits Coverage: What Will My Insurance Company Pay For?
Although most Ontario motorists have heard of “no-fault insurance”, very few understand what benefits are available to them following a car accident.
Basically, anyone injured in a car accident in Ontario (even pedestrians and cyclists) will be entitled to certain potentially significant benefits from their own insurance company, regardless of who is at fault for the accident. Depending on the severity of injury, these benefits can include:
• Income replacement;
• Medical and rehabilitation treatments and therapies not covered by OHIP, such as physiotherapy, chiropractic therapy, massage and other types of treatment;
• Prescription medications;
• Assistive devices, including wheelchairs, walkers, canes, grab bars, etc.;
• Housekeeping and home maintenance help, including snow removal and lawn/garden care;
• Home and vehicle modifications;
• Services of a support worker or attendant, including payment to family members for care provided;
• Expenses incurred by family members to visit an injured person, including air travel;
• Child care expenses;
• Funeral expenses; and
• Lump sum payments for the death of a family member.
These benefits are available even if the accident was your own fault, and even if others involved in the accident are also injured. However, there are time limits, dozens of complicated forms to complete and numerous restrictions and limitations on coverage.
At Oatley Vigmond, we specialize in ensuring that injured persons receive the benefits they need and are entitled to receive from their insurance company. We have a team of Accident Benefits Specialists on staff to make sure the needs of accident victims are met and their rights are protected. If you or someone you know has been the victim of a car accident, we may be able to help.
If you would like to know more about the benefits noted above, please visit AccidentBenefitsOntario.com.
About the Authors
Adam Little earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in 1996. He graduated from Queen’s University Faculty of Law in 2000 and was called to the bar in 2002. Adam was practicising on Bay Street for a leading Toronto litigation firm that represented doctors in medical malpractice claims when he realized that helping people through personal injury litigation was what he wanted to do. “I wanted to work for the best,” he said. A partner at Oatley Vigmond had written the best-known book available about addressing jury trials, which Adam had read and admired. He wrote to the partner, went through an intense interview process and became a partner at the firm in 2005.