Statutory Accident Benefits Coverage

Statutory Accident Benefits Coverage

Statutory accident benefits coverage pays for medical, rehabilitation, and attendant care needed as a result of a serious car accident. In Ontario, the statutory accident benefits available to us changed on June 1, 2016, in order to help lower our auto insurance premiums.

What are the Changes to Statutory Accident Benefits?

The changes made to our statutory accident benefits still provide a significant amount of coverage while giving us options for higher amounts of coverage if desired. If you have renewed your auto policy before June 1, 2016, the coverage remains unchanged until your next policy comes into effect. If you are renewing now or soon, be aware of the two main areas where changes were made:

1. Accident benefits for Non-Catastrophic Injuries: These benefits pay for reasonable medical, rehab and attendant care expenses not covered by OHIP. The coverage was $50,000 for medical and rehab plus $36,000 for attendant care. As of June 1, 2016, the coverage is now $65,000 in total combined.
2. Accident benefits for Catastrophic Injuries: This category is the same as above but offers increased coverage due to catastrophic injuries such as brain damage, loss of limb(s), and/or paralysis of the lower half of the body. The coverage was $1 million for medical and rehab plus $1 million for attendant care. As of June 1, 2016, the coverage is now $1 million in total combined.

Optional Coverage for Additional Protection

Again, we all hope we are never involved in such a serious accident but they do happen, and you may prefer to protect yourself and your loved ones with higher limits of coverage. The following options are available:

1. Optional benefits for Non-Catastrophic Injuries:
   1. You can increase benefits from $65,000 to $130,000 in total, or
   2. You can choose to increase them to $1 million in total
2. Optional benefits for Catastrophic Injuries:
   1. You can add $1 million in coverage for a total of $2 million, and
   2. You can choose to combine this $2 million with the optional $1 million for non-catastrophic for a total of $3 million in benefits

The cost of these options can be surprisingly low, so it is worth asking for quotes if interested. In addition, there are more optional coverage enhancements available for other types of accident benefits that did not change.

Learn more about auto insurance coverage options in Ontario

Questions About Your Statutory Accident Benefits Coverage?

Give our insurance experts a call to determine what amount of coverage is best for you and your family at 1-800- 731-2228 or get a quick auto insurance quote online. We’d be happy to help you any type of insurance.