What to Do After a Car Accident in Ontario: Reporting, Fault, and Protecting Your Claim

What you do after a collision can affect both your insurance claim and any later personal injury action. Ontario drivers face reporting requirements, insurance deadlines, and fault rules that begin to matter almost immediately.

At McNally Gervan LLP, we help injured people understand those obligations and avoid mistakes that can complicate a claim. This guide explains the steps to take after a crash, when a collision must be reported, how insurers determine fault, and what evidence should be preserved.

Do You Have to Report a Car Accident in Ontario?

Ontario has separate reporting requirements for police and insurers. Whether police must be notified depends largely on injuries, property damage, and the circumstances of the collision. Regardless, your insurer should always be notified promptly.

The $5,000 Property Damage Threshold

A collision must generally be reported to police if someone is injured or combined property damage exceeds $5,000. For reportable crashes that do not require an officer at the scene, Ottawa Police may direct drivers to a Collision Reporting Centre.

Report the collision promptly and bring your vehicle, licence, ownership, insurance, and collision details. Because repair costs can add up quickly, do not assume a seemingly minor crash falls below the threshold.

Reporting the Accident to Your Insurer

Ontario drivers are also expected to report an accident involving injury or property damage to their insurer within seven days, or as soon as reasonably possible afterward.

Prompt notice allows the insurer to investigate the collision while evidence is still available. An unexplained delay may complicate the claim and, in some circumstances, affect coverage.

When we review a new car accident file at McNally Gervan LLP, the timing and content of these initial reports are among the first issues we examine.

Collisions on Private Property

A collision does not become irrelevant simply because it happened in a parking lot, private driveway, or garage. If you intend to make an insurance claim, the accident should still be reported to your insurer.

Police reporting requirements may also apply where someone was injured, the damage exceeds the applicable threshold, or other circumstances require police involvement.

How Ontario’s Fault Determination Rules Work

Ontario insurers use the Fault Determination Rules to assign fault for automobile damage claim purposes. These Rules do not apply to personal injury claims. These rules set out common collision scenarios and specify how responsibility is allocated between drivers.

What the Fault Determination Rules Do

Ontario insurers use the Fault Determination Rules under the Insurance Act to decide how responsibility for a collision is divided. The insurer matches the facts of the crash to the rule that best fits and assigns each driver a percentage of fault.

Fault may be set at 0, 25, 50, 75, or 100 per cent. The rules generally apply regardless of factors such as weather or road conditions. If no rule fits the collision, fault is determined using ordinary legal principles.

Rear-End, Lane-Change, and Left-Turn Collisions

Ontario’s Fault Determination Rules assign responsibility for many common types of crashes. In a typical rear-end collision, the driver who hits the vehicle in front is generally found 100 per cent at fault. The same usually applies to a driver who changes lanes and strikes a vehicle already in that lane.

Left-turn collisions are treated similarly. A driver turning left across oncoming traffic is generally at fault if a collision occurs with a vehicle travelling straight through the intersection.

The exact circumstances still matter. Different rules may apply when vehicles are backing up, passing, entering a roadway, or making other turns.

Parking Lots and More Complicated Collisions

The Fault Determination Rules also cover many parking-lot accidents. For example, a driver leaving a parking space will generally be at fault for colliding with a vehicle travelling through the lane.

Some crashes do not fit neatly into a specific rule. In those cases, fault may be decided using ordinary legal principles and the available evidence, including photographs, witness statements, and dashcam footage.

An insurer’s fault decision can also be challenged. It is important to remember that an insurance fault determination is not necessarily the same as liability in a personal injury lawsuit, where a court applies negligence law to decide responsibility.

Protecting Your Personal Injury Claim After the Collision

Once immediate reporting requirements have been addressed, the focus turns to preserving evidence and documenting the effects of the injury.

Preserve the Available Evidence

If it is safe to do so, photograph the vehicles, damage, roadway, traffic controls, and surrounding area. Obtain contact information from witnesses and save any dashcam footage before it is overwritten.

Medical records are equally important. Seek appropriate medical attention, report your symptoms accurately, and follow recommended treatment. Keep records of expenses related to treatment, medication, travel, and other losses resulting from the collision.

A personal injury claim is proved through evidence. The more complete that record is, the easier it becomes to assess what happened and what the collision has cost you.

Be Careful With Statements to the Insurer

An adjuster may contact you soon after the collision and ask questions about how it happened, your injuries, and your recovery.

Give accurate information, but avoid guessing about speed, distance, fault, or the extent of an injury that has not yet been properly assessed. Statements made early in a claim can later be compared with medical records and other evidence.

If you are unsure what information you are required to provide, obtain legal advice before giving a detailed or recorded statement.

What Compensation May Be Available?

Ontario automobile injury claims can involve accident benefits as well as a tort claim against an at-fault driver.

Accident benefits may provide medical, rehabilitation, and attendant-care coverage regardless of fault. Since changes introduced on July 1, 2026, other benefits, including income replacement, may depend on the coverage available under the applicable policy.

A tort claim can seek compensation from an at-fault driver for losses that may include pain and suffering, income loss, future care, and other damages. Ontario also applies statutory rules to claims for non-pecuniary damages, including a threshold and, in many cases, a deductible.

There is no reliable average settlement for a car accident claim. Value depends on the injury, recovery, ability to work, future needs, available insurance coverage, and strength of the supporting evidence.

Speak With an Ottawa Car Accident Lawyer

The days after a collision can shape the course of a claim. Reporting requirements, insurer communications, medical records, and fault determinations all matter, and mistakes made early can be difficult to correct later.

If you were injured in a collision in Ottawa or Eastern Ontario, McNally Gervan LLP can review the circumstances, explain your rights, and help you understand the compensation that may be available. Initial consultations are free. Contact our Ottawa personal injury lawyers to discuss your claim and your next steps.