(video version...)

This will give you a quick overview of what has changed with the injury benefits coverage for Ontario car owners, and what you can do to protect yourself against the changes. 

 

The Ontario government made important changes to car insurance in September 2010.  By law, your car insurance must be issued with the lowest possible injury benefits available.  This creates significant gaps in your coverage, and it's up to you to decide which benefits you want to buy to protect against these coverage gaps.

 

We'll say that again as it's amazingly important.  If you do nothing........your insurance will be issued with the lowest injury benefits available - this may leave significant gaps in your coverage that will affect your ability to recover physically and financially after a car accident.
 

A lot of people mistakenly think that either OHIP or the benefits plan they have through their work will pay for their rehabilitation expenses, and while they’ll certainly cover some expenses, there are many costs  neither of them will pay for and you’ll need the injury benefits from your car insurance to pay for them.  And it could be to pay for things like modifications to your home, car or workplace to accommodate a disability you have after a car accident, to pay for help with your housekeeping like doing laundry & making meals.  Or it could be to pay for an attendant to help you recover while you’re at home or in a healthcare facility  – to help with things like getting dressed, moving around, caring for your wounds, helping with your personal hygiene, or preparing or feeding you your meals.  

 

 

Well, the coverage available to help you pay for your medical costs and other related expenses after a car accident have either been reduced or all together eliminated for injuries that are considered minor or serious in nature.  

 

Now the coverage for catastrophic type injuries essentially has not changed.  But the problem is is that over 90% of all car accident injuries in Ontario are either minor or serious injuries, and it’s coverage for these injuries that has been reduced or eliminated, and that's where you'll run into trouble if you don't upgrade your injury benefits coverage because the minimum coverage that the government says your policy has to be issued with leaves significant gaps. But you can add back the coverage that was taken away, and we'll tell you about that option in just a minute.

 

First though, a little perspective on why it’s so important to add back the coverage that was taken away.

 

As mentioned, coverage has been reduced or eliminated for minor and serious injuries.  Well serious injuries can typically include things like broken bones, moderate brain injury, partial paralysis, loss of some vision, or in other words some sort of moderate disability.  Something that can disrupt your quality of life for a prolonged period of time - you may recover fully in time, but you could also have some physical or mental deficit that keeps you from returning to work or school, something like memory problems, personality changes, speech impediment, or lack of balance or coordination.  Well, coverage for these types of non-catastrophic injuries have been reduced or eliminated.  If you don’t make any changes to your insurance, you will have limited coverage available to help you deal with these injuries.  BUT, you can add back the coverage that was taken away.

 

In fact, our recommendation, what we are telling all of our clients, is at the bare minimum, add back the coverage that was taken away.  The coverage that you’d be adding back onto your policy includes (1) the medical, rehabilitation, attendant care coverages , and (2) the caregiver, housekeeping and home maintenance coverage.

 

We'll get into more specifics about these coverages in another video, but,we'll say it again, as a minimum, we recommend you at least add back these coverages to prevent a dangerous gap in your insurance.  The additional cost for this is not huge at all – we’re seeing costs typically starting around $20 a month per vehicle.  Pricing does vary for each policy and customer.  We've seen lower and we've seen higher, but an estimate of $20 bucks a month per car is a good starting point for the average driver.  There are options for even better coverage, and we'll go into more of those details in other videos, but at the minimum, you'd be well served to at least add back the coverage that was taken away September 2010.  Give us a call if you'd like us to confirm the cost for your specific policy.

 

Now one final word about your injury benefits.  The injury benefits you choose don’t just cover you while you drive your car, but it also covers your spouse, dependents and any drivers listed on your policy. AND, it not only covers all those people if they're injured in your car, but also if they are in someone else's car, or even as a pedestrian or cyclist. So whatever decision you make about your coverage also affects the coverage that your spouse, dependents and other drivers listed on your policy will have available to them.  Now if your car is owned in the name of an incorporated business, the injury benefits you buy will only apply to drivers listed on the policy, not spouses or dependants.

 

So you need to make some important decisions about which injury benefits you need to ensure you're comfortably protected.  Give us a call - we can help you decide what options would be best for you.

 

If you're not already a client of HS Financial, or if you're not dealing with a broker, feel free to give us a call for more advice on the injury benefit options you have.  Given the degree of changes that have been made to Ontario car insurance, having the leverage HS Financial gives you may ensure you're not caught short on coverage when you most need it.  You can also find more information about the changes by going to CarInsuranceChanges.ca.