Note: the following information is applicable to accidents that occur up to September 30, 2003. Accidents after that date will be subject to more restrictions and tougher rules. See headlines

If you have been in a car accident in Ontario, you have probably already encountered a confusing and complicated set of rules affecting what you might receive. You may have already been told a variety of inaccurate things about your rights.

For example, has anyone told you that you can't sue because Ontario has "no-fault insurance"? This is not true. In most cases the right to sue is alive and well.

Why is it so complicated? Ontario governments, since 1990, had been meddling with the car insurance laws, in an effort to balance the rights of injured victims with the pressure by car insurers (and the driving public) to keep premiums lower by restricting the amount of compensation payable to those injured in car accidents. In 1994 and 1996, there were major overhauls of the system, resulting in drastically different rights for accident victims. Unfortunately the result is a hodgepodge of rules and regulations affecting both the insurers and victims.

Automobile insurance is mandatory in Ontario (with heavy fines and serious consequences for those who fail to insure their vehicles). If you are hurt in a car accident, you will be dealing with insurance companies, both your own and the insurer of the negligent driver. If you are covered under a private plan for medical and/or disability, you will be dealing with that insurer as well.

Your car insurance policy provides certain benefits, regardless of who caused the accident. Whether you or someone else was at fault, you have a right to these accident benefits. These benefits include some loss of income replacement, medical and rehabilitation expenses, housekeeping assistance, death benefits and others. Find out more about accident benefits.

If you also have coverage privately, or through work, for similar benefits, you will likely have to apply for those benefits as well. The law provides that the car insurer only has to pay to the extent that the private plan does not cover a specified accident benefit. If you don't apply to the private plan, the car insurer can still deduct what you would have received. Find out more about private plans.

Finally, if someone else caused the accident, you have a right to sue that person for compensation. The types of compensation you can receive will depend on a number of factors including, the extent of the injuries, and the type of person who was at fault. You must apply for accident benefits from your own insurer before you are allowed to sue the at-fault person. Find out more about the right to sue for car accidents.

Special rules apply if you were in the course of your employment at the time of your accident. You may be restricted to workers' compensation, or you may have a choice as to whether to pursue your case through the car insurance system. Generally, if someone else was at fault for the accident, and that person was not in the course of their employment at the time, you can elect to pursue a lawsuit, and seek accident benefits. However if you were at fault, or if both drivers were working (e.g. truck drivers), you are likely restricted to the workers compensation system.