Ontario legal information · Sources appear with each important rule
Two years is not a complete answer without a discovery analysis
The Limitations Act, 2002 sets a basic two-year period from the day a claim was discovered. Discovery includes when the material facts were or ought to have been known and when a proceeding was an appropriate means to seek a remedy.1
A date printed in an appeal template may be important, but it does not replace Ontario law or the policy.
A claim timeline should include more than the first denial
Collect the dates of
- The onset of disability and last day worked
- The application and approval or initial denial
- Every benefit payment and termination date
- Requests for records, examinations and appeal material
- Internal appeal decisions and later insurer communications
Also keep the policy definition, elimination period and any contractual proof or action provisions. The Insurance Act contains statutory conditions that can apply to accident and sickness contracts.4
The insurer’s review process and a lawsuit are different
An internal appeal may add useful evidence, but it should not be assumed to suspend a limitation period. In Usanovic, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that an insurer did not have a common-law duty to advise the insured of the limitation period.2
In Kumarasamy, the Court rejected a rule that a denial must always be clear and unequivocal before the discoverability analysis can begin.3
Review timing before deciding how much more evidence to send
Identify the denial reason, evidence gap, policy test and earliest plausible limitation date. Then assess whether an internal appeal, further information, negotiation or a legal proceeding is the appropriate next step.
This is not a task for a generic countdown calculator. The facts and wording control.
How a personal injury lawyer may use this information.
General information explains the framework. Legal advice should connect that framework to the event, the people and insurers involved, the available records and the deadlines in the individual claim.
- Identify who may be responsible and which policies or benefits may respond.
- Build the medical, functional, financial and event evidence around disputed issues.
- Protect notices and deadlines and explain the available next steps.
Sources and legal references
The numbered footnotes link to the official sources used on this page.
View 4 sources
- Ontario — Limitations Act, 2002
The basic limitation period and discoverability framework.
Back to footnote ↑ - Usanovic v. Penncorp Life Insurance Company, 2017 ONCA 395
Ontario Court of Appeal decision on limitation-period notice in an LTD claim.
Back to footnote ↑ - Kumarasamy v. Western Life Assurance Company, 2021 ONCA 849
Ontario Court of Appeal decision on discoverability and denial wording.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Insurance Act
Statutory conditions that can apply to accident and sickness insurance contracts.
Back to footnote ↑