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Locked: At fault in accident and received notice from solicitor - any risks?

  • Last Updated:
  • Mar 7th, 2021 12:50 pm
Banned
Mar 5, 2021
1 posts

At fault in accident and received notice from solicitor - any risks?

Been involved in accident 8 months ago - rear-ended other car, my fault obviously. Wasn't major - no airbags deployed, some bumper and underlying stuff damage.
A week ago I've received mail from solicitor citing serious injuries for one of the passengers, asking to forward to my insurance ( which I did of course).

Never been involved in matter like this, so wanted to understand - am I covered by third-party insurance, at least up to 1M amount I have or are at risk of incurring some charges - minor or major even if it's all below 1M?

Thank you!
8 replies
Deal Fanatic
Jul 4, 2004
9474 posts
2650 upvotes
You did the right thing by forwarding it to your insurance company. I wouldn't worry too much about this and it's doubtful that they'll be awarded a million dollar settlement as there are limits in law to damages. Not too mention, the injured party would probably have to cough up a lung, be paralyzed and maybe even dead and yet they still probably wouldn't qualify for a million dollars.
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Deal Fanatic
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Jan 31, 2006
8541 posts
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Toronto
Frankie3s wrote: You did the right thing by forwarding it to your insurance company. I wouldn't worry too much about this and it's doubtful that they'll be awarded a million dollar settlement as there are limits in law to damages. Not too mention, the injured party would probably have to cough up a lung, be paralyzed and maybe even dead and yet they still probably wouldn't qualify for a million dollars.
The other party might/will not get $1M. But Op's insurance rate will shoot sky high. Aside from the medical expenses, the other party can sue Op's too.
Deal Expert
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Jan 27, 2004
52937 posts
18147 upvotes
ONTARIO
Frankie3s wrote: You did the right thing by forwarding it to your insurance company. I wouldn't worry too much about this and it's doubtful that they'll be awarded a million dollar settlement as there are limits in law to damages. Not too mention, the injured party would probably have to cough up a lung, be paralyzed and maybe even dead and yet they still probably wouldn't qualify for a million dollars.
Afaik you get more if youre alive and severely disabled :-0

Imagine assistive care for however many years until that person dead.
cgtlky wrote: The other party might/will not get $1M. But Op's insurance rate will shoot sky high. Aside from the medical expenses, the other party can sue Op's too.
Newbie
Dec 17, 2014
82 posts
26 upvotes
Toronto, ON
Ontario follows "No Fault" insurance system. Each party will have to go to their insurance provider for auto damage or injuries as long as they have insurance.
Third party is suing you for bodily injury and your insurer will have to respond to their solicitor's intent to sue letter. As you stated that your policy covers you for up to 1 mil in third party liability, it's very unlikely that the third party will get awarded this amount. There are limits and thresholds in place for these kind of jerks to meet so that they can limit the unnecessary payout to them.
At the end of the day, after dragging this matter for months/years, they will propose to settle the matter and your insurance adjuster will negotiate and pay them. A hefty amount will go to the solicitor and the party will get fraction of it.
Make sure that you regularly follow up with your BI adjuster to keep getting an update so that the adjuster doesn't do the lousy job or miss the time line.

As far as your premium increase is concerned, it is an at fault loss and depending on your policy coverage, you may get this fault either fully or partially forgiven making your premium to go up but you can always shop around to see which insurer will give you better rate.
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Deal Addict
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Dec 8, 2020
2425 posts
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West Rouge, Ontario
OP as posted by others ... let the Broker/insurance company deal with this, that's why you have vehicle insurance with paid insurance premiums.

if at anytime you get any correspondence from the other parties (phone, emails, letters) you don't ever directly deal with it, or respond to or make a comment with it - you make a record/copy for your files before sending to your insurance people.

keep detailed records of all events, letters, calls etc time & date from the accident date right up till the final resolution

usual settlement can be anywhere from 1.5 - 2 years to whenever.

the winners are the accident victim lawyers

don't lose sleep over this
looking both ways wasting time doing unimportant things.
Banned
Mar 5, 2021
1 posts
jaypreet wrote: Make sure that you regularly follow up with your BI adjuster to keep getting an update so that the adjuster doesn't do the lousy job or miss the time line.
Thanks, this is very important reminder, will check with them tomorrow.
jaypreet wrote: At the end of the day, after dragging this matter for months/years, they will propose to settle the matter and your insurance adjuster will negotiate and pay them. A hefty amount will go to the solicitor and the party will get fraction of it.
This is unfortunate part even there's injury indeed ( which I doubt due to hit not being hard, but you never know as neck might get injured easily)

And thanks to everybody else for taking time to respond, that's why I love RFD ( using throwaway for obvious reasons here).
I took all the photos after accident obviously to see that tires were in good shape and all of that, will keep an eye on what's going on.
Member
Feb 7, 2019
337 posts
248 upvotes
Janus2faced wrote: the winners are the accident victim lawyers
I couldn’t agree more!!
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Deal Fanatic
Jan 31, 2007
6372 posts
6734 upvotes
Center of Canada
sushi604 wrote: I couldn’t agree more!!
Exactly
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