When it comes time to renew your car insurance, ask your broker about optional coverage. Though mandatory car insurance provides some protections for you and your family, the protections are limited. Aside from Statutory Accident Benefits Optional Benefits, there are a number of insurance endorsements that could make a big difference should you be injured in a car accident.
Car insurance endorsements come in the form of Ontario Policy Change Forms (OPCF). They allow you to increase your insurance protection after a car accident. There are many different types of OPCF insurance endorsements to consider. Some common ones include:
- OPCF-5: Permission to Rent or Lease Automobiles and Extending Coverage to the Specified Lessee(s): This endorsement extends your insurance protection to a vehicle that you drive that is owned by a leasing company.
- OPCF-20: Coverage for Transportation Replacement: This endorsement allows you to choose a rental car or hire a taxi while your vehicle is being repaired.
- OPCF-27: Liability for Damage to Non-Owned Automobiles: This endorsement provides up to $50,000 in property damage protection in the event you damage someone else’s car while driving it.
- OPCF-39: Accident Forgiveness: This endorsement provides a one-time free pass that protects your premium if you get into an accident that is your fault. This “free-pass” only applies as long as you are with the same insurance company. If you switch insurer’s, your rates may be higher.
- OPCF-43: Removing Depreciation Deduction: If your vehicle is a write-off after an accident, this endorsement means that you will receive the Replacement Cost of your vehicle, without deducting the depreciation value.
- OPCF-44R: Family Protection Coverage: This endorsement provides protection for you if you are injured in a car accident caused by someone without insurance, or without adequate insurance.
- OPCF-48: Added coverage to Offset the Tort Deductibles (for Ontario): If you start a lawsuit as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident, the defendant typically gets a deduction for your pain and suffering damages. This endorsement reduced the deduction by $10,000 (or $5000 for Family Law Act claims).
Family Protection Coverage
You should definitely talk to your broker about Family Protection Coverage.
The Family Protection Coverage (called the “OPCF-44R”) can be one of the most important options. The OPCF-44R means that your insurance will cover your losses in a lawsuit when the at-fault driver does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance.
The amount covered by the OPCF-44R corresponds to your third-party liability coverage. In Ontario, it is the law that every driver must have at least $200,000 in third party liability coverage. If you choose this amount, that means that you will have $200,000 available under the OPCF-44R endorsement as well.
Unfortunately, $200,000 does not go very far in serious accidents. If your injuries prevent you from working or if you need a lot of rehabilitation therapy, the $200,000 will probably not cover your needs. Also, this endorsement applies to your dependant family/spouse. If any family member included in this endorsement is injured in the same accident as you, you will have to split the $200,000 amongst all of you.
Fortunately, the coverage available from the OPCF-44R need not be limited to $200,000. You can increase your third-party liability coverage, and therefore your OPCF-44R coverage, to $1,000,000, $2,000,000, $5,000,000 or some other level of protection that makes sense in your circumstances.
The OPCF-44R Family Protection Coverage is also helpful in circumstances where the at fault driver had inadequate insurance. If you’re injured in a crash with a driver who only has $200,000 in third party liability coverage, but your damages are more than $200,000, you can get OPCF- 44R to help make up for the difference. The OPCF-44R doesn’t stack up against the at fault driver’s third-party insurance. For example, if the at fault driver’s coverage was $200,000 and your liability coverage was $1,000,000, your OPCF-44R would pay up to $800,000 to bring the total limits available back to $1,000,000.
Tort deductible
Another important endorsement in the civil litigation context is the OPCF-48: Offset of the Tort Deductible. In Ontario, if you start a lawsuit for damages arising from a car accident, there are certain hurdles to overcome when seeking damages for pain and suffering.
First, you need to provide medical evidence that you sustained a serious and permanent impairment of an important function.
Second, you may be subject to a tort deductible on the amount of pain and suffering damages awarded. This deductible increases every year with inflation. As of 2024, the deductible is approximately $46,053.20. This means that if a jury awards you $80,000 for pain and suffering, the defendant’s insurance only has to pay you $33,946.80. The jury is not allowed to know that the deductible exists before it reaches a decision.
If you have the OPCF-48 Offset, the deductible would be decreased by $10,000. This means that in the example above, you would actually get $43,946.80.
It is crucial to understand how cost consequences work, a difference of $10,000 could be important when considering the cost consequences that follow a trial. Essentially, you want to recover more at trial than the defendant offers to settle the claim leading up to trial, otherwise you may have to pay for the defendant’s legal fees. Reducing the deductible brings you one step closer to avoiding that outcome.
Protect yourself and your loved ones
There are many optional insurance endorsements available beyond the minimum coverage set out by the legislation. Most endorsements don’t actually cost that much more per year. It is important to talk with your broker to make sure that you and your loved ones have proper protection should you be seriously injured in a car accident.
If you have any questions related to this blog post, contact myself, Victoria Edwards at [email protected] or a lawyer in the Siskinds Personal Injury department.