If Someone You Love Is in the Hospital After an Accident, Here Is What to Do First

Every summer, Ontario’s trauma centres see a significant rise in serious injuries. Cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and drivers are all affected. The weeks between Victoria Day and Labour Day are known within the medical and legal communities as trauma season, and the cases that come through emergency departments during this period are often among the most severe of the year.

If you are sitting in a hospital waiting room right now, or you have just received a call that a family member has been hurt, this page is for you.

Why the first days matter more than ever in 2026

Ontario’s auto insurance system is changing on July 1, 2026. Historically, people hurt in motor vehicle accidents were entitled to a suite of benefits from an insurance company, through the closest applicable motor vehicle policy. If no policy applied to them, the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund would step in. Under the new rules, many accident benefits that were previously automatic will become optional. Benefits like income replacement, caregiver support, and coverage for visitors and home maintenance are now only available to people who specifically purchased them before the accident.

For families dealing with a serious injury, this creates a new and urgent set of questions:

• What coverage did the injured person have?
• Are there optional benefits in place, or only the mandatory minimum?
• Who else might be entitled to claim benefits, and under which policy?

These questions have always mattered in personal injury cases. After July 1, 2026, they will determine far more.

If you have been hurt in a motor vehicle accident, a personal injury lawyer can review your policy and identify what is available before any deadlines expire. Under Ontario’s accident benefits rules, you generally have seven days to report an accident to the insurer. The insurer will then send you an accident benefits application package and the completed application for benefits must be returned within 30 days of receiving it. Missing these deadlines can jeopardise coverage that is already limited.

A note on what’s changing

The July 2026 reforms change which benefits are automatic and which require optional coverage. They do not change the basic structure of Ontario’s tort system. A person who is seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence still has the right to pursue compensation for pain and suffering, lost income, medical expenses, and the cost of future care. Those rights are largely unchanged, though reduced access to accident benefits may affect the valuation of the injured party’s damages.

What the new reforms directly change is an individual’s access to a number of benefits that were previously a part of every policy. For example, where every pre-July 1^st insurance policy provided up to $400 of weekly income replacement benefits, these benefits will now require individuals to opt-into them by purchasing optional benefits. With fewer automatic benefits in place, injured people and their families will feel financial pressure sooner. That makes early legal advice more important, not less.

What you can do while in the hospital

Document everything, starting now

Before you leave the hospital today, write down what you know:

• the date, time, and location of the accident;
• the names of anyone else involved;
• any witness names or contact information you were given;
• the names of the attending physicians or nurses; and
• any diagnoses or test results that have been explained to you so far.

If you are helping someone else, and if the injured person is able to communicate, ask them what they remember. Memory of the events immediately following a serious accident can fade quickly, particularly with a brain injury or significant pain medication.

It is also recommended to take photographs of any visible injuries. If the accident scene is accessible and safe, photograph it as well.

Keep all records

Most hospitals provide online portals for patients to access their medical documentation online. Be sure to take advantage of this resource and save all your medical documentation: admission records, diagnostic imaging reports, surgical notes, discharge instructions. If you are unsure about how to access these documents, ask. You are entitled to these records, and they will form the foundation of any future legal or insurance claim.

Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer before speaking with a lawyer. Insurers have every right to ask; you have every right to seek legal advice first.

Contact a personal injury lawyer

If you or someone you know is injured, call a lawyer as soon as possible. It is not necessary to wait until discharge. You do not need to know the full extent of the injuries, and you will often need to act quickly to preserve your rights by meeting initial deadlines that you do not know about. Reputable personal injury law firms will offer free consultations and will work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you will be no worse off for setting up a meeting with a reputable personal injury firm.

An early call to a personal injury firm like Thomson Rogers LLP accomplishes several things. We can identify what accident benefits apply and help ensure the application is filed on time. We can advise on what documentation to preserve. We can explain what a tort claim against an at-fault party might look like, and how it works alongside the accident benefits system. And we can do all of this without any upfront cost, because our personal injury work is done on a contingency basis.

We are here

Thomson Rogers LLP has represented seriously injured Ontarians for decades. If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you don’t have to face the process alone. Schedule a free consultation with the expert legal team at Thomson Rogers LLP. Call us at 416-868-3100 or 1-888-223-0448, or contact us online to get the compensation you deserve.

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This article is intended as general information only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have questions about a specific situation, please contact Thomson Rogers LLP directly.