After a car accident in Ontario, your immediate job is to make the scene safe, exchange information with the other driver, call police if anyone is hurt or the damage looks to be over $2,000, see a doctor, and notify your own insurance company within seven days. Ontario runs a no-fault insurance system, which means you claim accident benefits through your own insurer no matter who caused the crash. The seven-day notice to your insurer is the single most time-sensitive deadline.
First Things to Do at the Scene
Check yourself and your passengers for injuries before anything else. Call 911 if anyone is hurt or a vehicle is seriously damaged. If your car is drivable, move it onto the shoulder or out of the lane. If it isn’t, leave your seatbelt on, turn on your hazard lights, and wait inside until help arrives.
Once the immediate danger has passed, exchange information with every other driver involved. You need names, contact details, driver’s licence numbers, and insurance information for each driver, plus the licence plate, make, model, year, and colour of each vehicle.
Keep what you say factual. Do not apologize, speculate about what happened, or accept blame at the roadside. An offhand “sorry” can be reframed later as an admission of fault during the insurance process or in court.
When You Have to Involve Police
Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act requires you to report a collision immediately to the nearest police officer when anyone is injured or when property damage appears to exceed the prescribed threshold, currently $2,000. Police involvement is also required whenever a pedestrian, cyclist, or government vehicle is involved, or when you suspect impaired driving or other criminal activity.
If police don’t attend the scene, the officer you contact may direct you to a Collision Reporting Centre. You are legally required to attend promptly once directed there. Bring your driver’s licence, vehicle ownership, proof of insurance, and the vehicle itself if it can be driven. Staff will photograph the damage, help you complete an official report, and give you documentation your insurer will ask for.
Failing to report when required is an offence under the Highway Traffic Act. If you’re unsure whether the damage crosses the threshold, report anyway. There is no cost to filing an unnecessary report, and real consequences for skipping a required one.
What to Document Before You Leave
The evidence you gather at the scene shapes how your claim moves. Use your phone to photograph and video the vehicles from several angles, close-ups of the damage, the overall layout of the intersection or stretch of road, traffic signs, lane markings, and any skid marks. Note the exact time, date, and location, along with weather and lighting conditions.
If anyone saw the crash, ask for their name and phone number before they leave. Witness accounts carry significant weight when fault is disputed.
As soon as you can, write down your own recollection of what happened: the direction each vehicle was travelling, approximate speeds, and the sequence of events. It isn’t a legal document, but it keeps your account consistent when you talk to your insurer and, if it comes to that, a lawyer.
See a Doctor, Even If You Feel Fine
Get a medical evaluation after any collision, even one that seems minor. Whiplash, concussions, and soft tissue injuries often have delayed onset. Symptoms can surface hours or days later, and by then you may already have told your insurer you weren’t hurt, creating an inconsistency that complicates your claim.
A prompt visit does two things. It catches injuries while treatment is most effective, and it creates a medical record linking your symptoms to the accident. That record matters later if you need to access accident benefits, apply for removal from the Minor Injury Guideline, or sue for your injuries. Without contemporaneous records, insurers and defence lawyers will argue your injuries were pre-existing or unrelated.
Follow through on whatever treatment plan your doctor recommends. Attend follow-ups, complete prescribed physiotherapy, and keep records of every visit and every expense. Gaps in treatment give insurers an opening to argue you’ve recovered or that further care isn’t necessary, which can lead to benefits being cut off.
Notify Your Insurer Within Seven Days
You must notify your insurance company within seven days of the accident, or as soon as possible after that if you’re physically unable. This applies regardless of who was at fault and regardless of whether you plan to claim. Missing the deadline won’t automatically disqualify you, but it hands your insurer grounds to question the claim and can delay your benefits. Set a reminder the day of the accident if you need to.
When you call, have your policy number, the information you collected at the scene, and your Collision Reporting Centre documentation ready. Your insurer will assign an adjuster to investigate, review the police or CRC report, and assess the damage. For vehicle damage, the adjuster will arrange an inspection and get repair estimates. For injury claims, the insurer will send you an accident benefits application.
Complete and return that application promptly. The insurer then has specific timelines to approve, deny, or request further assessment. If a benefit is denied and you disagree, you can dispute the decision through mediation or arbitration at the Licence Appeal Tribunal.
Ontario’s accident benefits, called Statutory Accident Benefits, are built into every auto policy by law and cover medical treatment, rehabilitation, attendant care, and income replacement. You claim them from your own insurer no matter who caused the crash. The label “no-fault” is misleading: it doesn’t mean nobody is at fault, only that each driver’s own insurer pays their benefits so treatment and income support aren’t held up waiting for a fault decision.
How Fault Actually Gets Decided
A common assumption is that whoever gets the ticket is “at fault” for insurance purposes. That isn’t how it works in Ontario. Your insurer determines fault using the Fault Determination Rules under Ontario Regulation 668, a set of diagrams and scenarios that assign fault percentages based on the positions and movements of the vehicles involved.
The rules are applied mechanically. The regulation explicitly says fault is determined without reference to weather, road conditions, visibility, the actions of pedestrians, or where on your vehicle the point of contact was. A police report and any charges can inform the investigation, but they don’t dictate the outcome. If the collision doesn’t match any scenario in the regulation, fault is decided under ordinary negligence law.
Fault determinations feed directly into your premiums. If you’re found more than 25 percent at fault, you’ll likely see a rate increase at renewal, and an at-fault accident stays on your insurance record for several years.
When You Can Sue the Other Driver
No-fault doesn’t block lawsuits. You can sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering, but only if your injuries meet a legal threshold: a permanent serious impairment of an important physical, mental, or psychological function, or a permanent serious disfigurement.
Even if you clear that threshold, Ontario applies a statutory deductible to pain and suffering awards. If your damages fall below the deductible amount, you receive nothing for pain and suffering after it’s applied. The deductible stops applying once the award exceeds a higher statutory amount. Both figures are adjusted periodically, so confirm the current numbers with a lawyer if you’re considering a claim.
You can also sue for economic losses that exceed what your accident benefits cover, such as lost income beyond the weekly maximum or future care costs. The limitation period to file a lawsuit after a motor vehicle accident in Ontario is generally two years from the date of the accident, so don’t sit on the decision indefinitely.
Deadlines at a Glance
- At the scene: report to police immediately if anyone is injured or property damage looks to exceed the reporting threshold.
- Promptly after being directed: attend the Collision Reporting Centre with your documents and vehicle.
- Within 7 days: notify your insurance company of the accident, regardless of fault.
- Within 2 years: file any personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver before the limitation period expires.
Missing the seven-day insurance notice is the most common and most damaging mistake. It doesn’t permanently bar your claim, but it shifts the burden onto you to explain the delay, and some insurers will use it as leverage to reduce or deny benefits.