No Car Insurance?
What happens when you are injured in a car accident but there is no car insurance? If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident in Ontario by the fault of another person, you usually would seek compensation from three sources:
1. Your own insurer; or
2. A family member who you live with who has car insurance when there is Family Protection Endorsement on that person’s policy; and/or
3. The other driver’s insurer.
So, No Car Insurance?
If no one involved in the car accident has insurance, you may have recourse through Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. Pedestrians hit by an uninsured car also would have access to this Ontario fund if the pedestrian does not have car insurance.
Only when there are no other insurers involved does the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund become available. The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund is often referred to as an insurer “of last resort”.
The Fund provides a maximum of $200,000 in insurance coverage in any tort lawsuit arising out of a motor vehicle accident in Ontario where an insurance company is not involved. The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund often becomes the insurance of last resort in circumstances such as:
- Your car is run off the road or hit by an unidentified vehicle;
- You are a pedestrian hit by an uninsured car. You do not have your own car insurance; or
- You are a passenger in a vehicle, which unbeknownst to you, is uninsured. That vehicle is involved in a single-car collision or a collision with another uninsured vehicle.
When the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund is the insurer of last resort, you must sue the Fund directly.
The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund is available to visitors of Ontario who are involved in a motor vehicle accident. This is only if there is a similar fund in your home province or state.