Motor vehicle liability insurance is mandatory in Ontario and there are certain types of coverage which also are mandatory. All policies must have a minimum of $200,000 in third-party liability coverage, known as limits. Third-party liability limits protect your assets from claims by anyone who may sue you after a motor vehicle accident. You can increase these limits by buying optional, additional coverage. Increased limits are usually available up to $2 million.
If a person is seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident, more than $200,000 will likely be needed to properly compensate them. In the most severe cases, even $1 million may not be enough to cover lost income, medical expenses, and ongoing future treatment, so you need to give careful consideration to the amount of third-party liability coverage you need to protect your assets. This is something you should discuss with your insurance broker or agent.
Underinsured and Uninsured Drivers
If you are injured in a car accident and the at-fault driver is uninsured or does not have sufficient third-party limits to compensate you fully, you may not be able to recover the money you need to pay for medical expenses and other losses. This is particularly true if they only have $200,000 in third-party liability limits. You can protect yourself and your family from such unrecoverable losses if you get the optional Family Protection Coverage and increase your own liability limits.
OPCF-44R – Family Protection
The OPCF‑44R Family Protection Coverage allows you to protect yourself and your family if you are injured by a driver who does not have sufficient third-party liability limits. If you are seriously injured in an accident, this additional protection will cover the difference between the lower third‑party liability limits of an at-fault driver and your own third-party limits.
So, if you have purchased $2 million of third-party liability and add Family Protection Coverage, you are protected up to $2 million in the event the at-fault driver does not have that much insurance.
Unidentified Drivers and Hit-and-Run Accidents
The OPCF-44R coverage also protects you in case you are injured in an accident caused by an unidentified driver. This includes situations where you are involved in a single-vehicle accident because you took evasive action to avoid a dangerous driver who cut you off.
If you are involved in a single-vehicle accident caused by another negligent driver, you must provide proof that the accident was really caused by an unknown and unidentified driver. It is not sufficient for you to say that another vehicle cut you off. The onus is on you to produce some “other material evidence” to corroborate your claim.
This blog post was written by Edward (Ted) Masters, a member of the Disability Insurance Claims and Personal Injury teams. He can be reached at 613-566-2064 or at ted.masters@mannlawyers.com.
