Every resident of Ontario that drives a motored vehicle must carry insurance, which is backed by SABS.
What is SABS?
That stands for Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. That Schedule lists the benefits available to any resident of Ontario that gets injured in a car accident, regardless of who might have been found at-fault for the same accident.
What are the basic accident benefits?
Reimbursement of medical expenses, or money spent on rehabilitation services
• Income replacement: The amount provided to the injured victim equals 70% of his or her lost earnings.
• Non-earner benefits: This continues for 2 years, if the injured victim was not working at the time of the accident.
• Death benefit: This single benefit guarantees a payment of $25,000 for a surviving spouse; a payment of $10,000 for each surviving dependent and $6,000 for funeral expenses.
In addition to the basic benefits, those with a catastrophic impairment, one caused by the accident, can expected more than one added benefit. An accident victim with a catastrophic impairment can get $250 per week for the services of a caregiver and $100 per week for housekeeping and maintenance services.
Canada’s cap on benefits gets raised for victims with a catastrophic impairment. Victims should consult with a Personal Injury Lawyers in Trenton, in order to learn whether or not their particular injury has been added to the list of catastrophic impairments.
What is the cap?
That is the maximum amount of money that can be awarded to an accident victim as compensation for pain and suffering. For Canadian drivers that have not purchased optional coverage, that amount is $65,000, unless the injured driver (or any passengers) have suffered a catastrophic injury. In that case, the cap would be $1 million.
What is optional coverage?
That is a supplement to the standard automobile insurance policy. It guarantees a lifting of the stated cap to a higher level. For instance, the capped amount of $65,000 gets raised to $113,000 for any driver in Ontario that has purchased the optional coverage.
If a driver with optional coverage suffers a catastrophic injury, then his or her cap for pain and suffering benefits gets raised to $2 million. Understand that any victim has the right to seek as much money as allowed for income replacement, medical expenses, caregiver benefits or reimbursement of housekeeping or maintenance services.
By hiring an experienced attorney, an accident victim in Canada should feel more confident of obtaining a fair compensation. Canadian lawyers have learned how to work within the system, in order to maximize the uncapped benefits that are available to a given client. Naturally, a Canadian lawyer always welcomes an inquiry from a driver that has chosen to buy the insurance package known as optional coverage.