What Is The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund?

The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund (the “Fund”) is a fund available to people injured in a car accident where there is no other policy of automobile insurance available to respond to Statutory Accident Benefit claims as well as tort (negligence) claims. This usually occurs where the injured person is a passenger in an uninsured motor vehicle without access to his/her own car insurance policy, a pedestrian or cyclist who is the victim of a hit and run accident or struck by an identified but uninsured driver.

In order to be eligible to apply to the Fund, you must live in Ontario, be involved in a collision in Ontario, have no automobile insurance policies available to claim under and have suffered injuries.

With respect to Statutory Accident Benefits claims, the Fund will respond up to the maximum benefits available under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. The same tests for eligibility and quantum of individual benefit categories apply. Certain exclusions may apply with respect to entitlement to an income replacement, caregiver or housekeeping benefit depending on the circumstances of the collision.

With respect to a tort (negligence) claim, the Fund will only respond up to a maximum of $200,000 (including pre-judgment interest) per accident plus legal fees. This includes any claims made by the injured parties family members. Eligible family members are restricted to parents, spouses, children, grandchildren, grandparents, siblings, step parents and step children. If you are the driver of an uninsured vehicle and are injured in a collision you are not permitted to bring an action against an at fault driver.

Once a claim is paid out the Fund will retain the right to pursue the at fault driver in order to recover any funds it has paid out as a result of the collision and has the ability to have the uninsured motorist’s driver’s license suspended until the funds are repaid.

At Thomson Rogers we have spent decades assisting thousands of injured Ontario accident victims. Thomson Rogers offers free consultations so please feel free to reach out to us at any time. We are here to help.

Stacey Stevens can be reached at 416-868-3186 or by EMAIL.

Adam Karakolis can be reached at 416-868-3181 or by EMAIL.

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