Told Your Insurer About the Crash? That Isn’t Notice of an Accident Benefits Claim

What did the Court of Appeal decide in Jakupovic?

Mr. Jakupovic contacted Intact the day after the February 13, 2019 crash he was involved in and reported the accident and the damage to his vehicle. He was in touch with Intact on multiple occasions about the property damage, but he didn’t say he intended to claim accident benefits until December 12, 2020, when he sent in an Application for Accident Benefits (OCF-1). Intact approved the application at first. It later raised whether the claim was statute-barred and told him it was ending his benefits on April 14, 2022 because of the late reporting.

An adjudicator at the Licence Appeal Tribunal found he hadn’t complied with s. 32(1) of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) because he didn’t notify Intact within seven days of his intention to claim. The Divisional Court reversed that, finding that reporting the accident was enough. The Court of Appeal allowed Intact’s appeal and restored the tribunal’s decisions. Justice Wilson, who wrote the reasons, said s. 32(1) requires a person who intends to claim benefits to tell the insurer so.

The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association intervened and argued that once an accident is reported, the insurer has to make inquiries to find out whether its insured was injured. The court found no merit in that argument. It said that treating a crash report as a benefits claim would make insurers start claims for every reported accident, whether or not the insured was hurt.

What should you tell the insurer, and by when?

Tell the insurer that you intend to apply for accident benefits. Under s. 32(1), that notice is due no later than the seventh day after the circumstances giving rise to the benefit arose, or as soon as practicable after that day. The safest course is to count the seven days from the day of the crash.

The message can be short. Say that you were hurt in the crash and intend to apply for accident benefits, and ask for the application forms. Put it in writing, by email if you can, and keep a copy. In Jakupovic, contact with the insurer on multiple occasions about the property damage didn’t amount to notice, so don’t count on a vehicle damage claim to start your injury claim. A report to the police doesn’t count either, because s. 32(1) requires notice to the insurer.

Which insurer do you tell?

The Insurance Act priority rules look first to a policy under which you are an insured. If you’re the named insured on an auto policy, or the spouse or a dependant of a named insured as the SABS defines that term, you generally claim against the insurer under that policy. A driver listed on a policy is also an insured under it.

Passengers, pedestrians and cyclists who aren’t insured under any policy look elsewhere. A passenger goes to the insurer of the car they were in, and a pedestrian or cyclist to the insurer of the car that struck them. The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund is the last resort when no other insurance is available, for example for some pedestrians and cyclists hit by an uninsured vehicle.

If you aren’t sure which insurer is responsible, don’t wait to work it out. It’s sensible to give notice to every insurer that might be responsible, but send the completed application to only one of them. The first insurer that receives a completed application has to start paying benefits while any dispute over which insurer pays is resolved, and it can’t redirect you to another insurer.

What happens after you give notice?

Watch for the application forms. Under s. 32(5), the completed and signed application is due within 30 days after you receive them, so note the day they arrive.

On policies taken out or renewed since July 1, 2026, income replacement, non-earner, caregiver and housekeeping benefits, among others, are optional extras the policyholder chooses whether to buy. If a policy from before that date renews, those benefits carry on in the same amounts unless the named insured and the insurer agree in writing that the named insured declines or changes them. For any crash since July 1, 2026, the optional benefits only apply to the named insured, their spouse, the dependants of either, and drivers listed on the policy.

Medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits are still part of every policy. A passenger, pedestrian or cyclist claiming under the policy on a friend’s car, or on the car that hit them, may get only those. For Ontario crashes since July 1, 2026, the insurer also has to pay medical and rehabilitation benefits, other than medication, even for the part of an expense that a supplementary health insurance plan would cover. Other health coverage is no reason to skip the notice.

What if you’re already late?

Give notice now, in writing. Under s. 34, missing a time limit doesn’t disentitle you to a benefit if you have a reasonable explanation.

The explanation has to be believed. In Jakupovic, the tribunal rejected his explanation for the lengthy delay as neither credible nor reasonable, and the Court of Appeal said that was a finding of fact the adjudicator was entitled to make. An appeal from the tribunal in an accident benefits case is limited to questions of law. The Divisional Court had accepted that he didn’t understand he was entitled to benefits, and the Court of Appeal said that was the Divisional Court substituting its own findings of fact for the tribunal’s. The Court of Appeal also said it was procedurally unfair for the Divisional Court to refer to medical evidence that post-dated the tribunal’s decision, so get the evidence for your explanation in front of the tribunal.

Write down now why you didn’t give notice sooner, while the details are fresh, such as a hospital stay or something the insurer or your broker told you. Keep the records that back it up. And don’t treat an approved claim as safe: Intact approved the application in Jakupovic before it raised the late notice and moved to end the benefits.

• Jakupovic v. Intact Insurance Company, 2026 ONCA 651 (Court of Appeal for Ontario)
• O. Reg. 34/10: Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule, ss. 2, 32 and 34 and the July 1, 2026 optional benefits and supplementary health insurance rules (as amended, including by O. Reg. 383/24 and O. Reg. 58/25)
• Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8, s. 268(2) and (5)
• O. Reg. 283/95: Disputes Between Insurers
• Government of Ontario: Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund