Ontario legal information · Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
The useful question is more specific than the page title.
Accident benefits pay defined categories under the SABS and the coverage actually in force.2
The tort action addresses another person's fault and loss not otherwise excluded or adjusted by automobile insurance law.
Keep responsibility, available coverage and actual loss in separate columns.
Legal route
Negligence and traffic evidence determine civil fault.
Insurance or benefit route
SABS eligibility and benefit tests apply regardless of fault in qualifying accidents.
Practical decision
The routes must be coordinated because payments, statements and medical evidence can interact.
Build the record from material another person can verify.
Collision scene, drivers and witnesses.
Policy date, insured status and application forms.
Medical, work and expense evidence.
Benefit decisions, liability position and deductible analysis.
Protect the next date without pretending every claim follows one clock.
Apply for benefits promptly without waiting for the police or liability insurer to decide fault.3
Protect the civil claim and any LAT dispute with separate calendar entries.
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 the priority insurer
- Investigate responsibility
- Coordinate shared evidence
- Track two procedural calendars
Not every file requires every step or legal representation. The work should respond to the actual dispute, evidence gap or decision that is approaching.
Sources and legal references
These official sources provide the legal and procedural foundation for this page. Their current wording and the facts of the claim control.
View 3 sources
- Ontario — Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule
The current rules for Ontario automobile accident benefits.
Back to footnote ↑ - Ontario — Insurance Act
Ontario automobile liability, statutory benefit, threshold and deductible framework.
Back to footnote ↑ - Tribunals Ontario — LAT-AABS laws and rules
Current rules and official materials for Ontario accident-benefit disputes.
Back to footnote ↑