Changes to the Automobile Insurance Policy

Changes to the Automobile Insurance Policy: Things You Need to Know

Any person who is injured in a car accident is entitled to claim for Statutory Accident Benefits from their own insurance company. These benefits include:

      •  Medical / rehabilitation benefits;
      •  Attendant care benefits;
      •  Caregiver benefits;
      •  Income replacement benefits;
      •  Housekeeping and home maintenance benefits;
      •  Dependant care; and,
      •  Funeral benefits.

As of September 1, 2010 the Government of Ontario created new legislation which decreases a person’s entitlement to accident benefits. As a result of this change the amount of entitlement to certain benefits has decreased substantially.

For example, an injured motorist is now only entitled to a maximum of $50,000.00 in medical / rehabilitation benefits for non-catastrophic injuries. This amount was lowered from $100,000.00. As a result, an injured motorist may no longer be compensated by his/her own insurance company for treatments such as physiotherapy or chiropractic once they have expensed over $50.000.00 in treatment and/or assessments.

Further, attendant care benefits have also been lowered from $72,000.00 to $36,000.00 for non-catastrophic injuries. This represents a reduction in how much an injured motorist can claim to provide in-home care for him/her while injured.

Housekeeping and home maintenance benefits as well as caregiver benefits for non-catastrophic injuries have been eliminated entirely from standard policies. Prior to the change, an injured motorist was entitled to a maximum of $100.00 / week in housekeeping and home maintenance benefits, for a period of no more than 104 weeks. Likewise, before the change an injured motorist could be entitled to caregiver benefits in the amount of $250.00 / week for the first child and $50.00 each for each additional child under the age of 16. Now an injured motorist will not be entitled to any housekeeping and home maintenance benefit or caregiver benefit unless they specifically purchase optional coverage.

Overall, the amount of Statutory Accident Benefits that Ontario’s motorists were once guaranteed under their automobile policy has now drastically decreased. The Government of Ontario has now left it up to each individual motorist to buy optional coverage, at an added expense, to provide for benefits which they had enjoyed prior to September 1, 2010.

Ontarians would be well advised to call their insurance company and/or insurance broker to discuss what coverage is currently available to them. Given the individual’s specific needs it may be recommended that a person buy optional coverage to increase the amount of Statutory Accident Benefits available to them in the event that they are injured in a motor vehicle accident.

Unfortunately, only 3% of Ontario’s motorists bought optional coverage prior to the change in legislation. As the cost of car insurance seems to always be increasing and given the fact that consumers are often solely interested in buying the cheapest policy, it is unlikely that consumers will take an interest in the changes to the Statutory Accident Benefit legislation and buy additional coverage. This may prove to be problematic for consumers down the road.


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