<p>Can someone kindly give me some advice. Recently we travelled to Ontario,Canada for a short visit. Outside of Toronto traffic stopped but the driver behind me didn’t, and totalled our car. We live in the US and our car was only insured one-way ( no comp and collision I guess is the technical insurance term ) because it was an older model. </p>
<p>I have a hard time collecting damages - the car was written off by our insurance co (ALLSTATE)'s canadian office. But Ontario is I think a NO_FAULT auto insurance state, meaning you collect damages from your own insurance regardless who’s at fault. Since my coverage was one-way, ALLSTATE is stalling, and when I called the guilty party’s insurer in Canada they said I must go through my own insurance. What are my options ? The accident report said I was not at fault.</p>
<p>It might be “cool” if you live in Ontario and hit or got hit by another Ontario driver. But I imagine you will have problem with cars from other canadian provinces which do not have no-fault policy, not to mention cars from US. </p>
<p>Is this NO<em>FAULT only between 2 NO</em>FAULT policy holders ?</p>
<p>If you are an atthorney or have gone through similar experience, please advise!</p>
<p>No. I’m not a lawyer but I do know that the laws in place in the location of the accident will determine how the claim is settled, regardless of what the law is where you live. This is the case everywhere, not just in Canada. If your auto policy allows you to drive in Canada (which I think all do), then they will likely cover your claim as if you had an Ontario policy. If they weren’t going to handle it, they would not have appraised the damage to your car and declared it a total loss. There may be some delay involved in reaching a settlement but, from what you’ve said, it would appear that they are going to settle your claim. Have you asked your claims representative what the hold up is? If you don’t get a satisfactory answer, request to speak to a supervisor.</p>
<p>p.s. There are also several U.S. states with no-fault laws.</p>
<p>I live in Ontario and insure my cars with Allstate Canada. I’ve heard they are not very good and give their insured a hard time. I will be paying attention to this thread. This is a wake up call for me to shop around this year. </p>
<p>As far as the property damage claim (to replace your car) - I think the problem is with your own coverage – when you opted not to buy comprehensive & collision, you assumed the risk for damage to your vehicle. So I think you are out of luck there.</p>
<p>I hope you weren’t injured, but if you were, then liability for medical costs might be a different matter. If you have “uninsured motorist” or “major medical” on your auto policy you might be covered.</p>
<p>Calmom, this one makes me shudder. If the NO_FAULT law in Ontario Canada is such that it is open season for visitors, who would want to do business in Canada ? </p>
<p>When I opt not to carry coverage of my own car (one-way), in US non-no-fault state the other insurer (at fault) pays my damages. It is incredulous that legislators in Ontario,Canada have not thought of this, and allow open-season attacks on poor tourists.</p>
<p>I live in a no fault state. Basically, you are correct … it means that you deal with your own insurance company, no matter who is at fault. You are not at fault … but any damages you are owed are taken care of through your insurance company. What are you trying to collect? It sounds like you don’t have any coverage for collision damages … it does NOT matter that you weren’t at fault. When you chose not to pay for collision coverage, you chose not to be covered regardless of who is at fault in a collision. No fault does not mean that you get money when you weren’t at fault … you don’t have coverage for collision, so you don’t get the money.</p>
<p>No fault insurance typically applies to bodily injury only - not to property damage. The laws are different from province to province though. Even if no fault does apply to property damage, it doesn’t really mean that no one is judged as being at fault. Ontario has rules as to who is at fault and a person rear ending you will be at fault. Collision insurance covers the damage to your car if you are at fault so the lack of collision insurance has no impact when you’re not at fault. Comprehensive doesn’t apply in collisions with other autos. You may end up having to sue your own insurance company.</p>
<p>Seth, what if your car had been totalled because a tree fell on it? You wouldn’t be covered because you didn’t buy comprehensive coverage. Sometimes accidents happen and it is not anyone’s fault.</p>
<p>In your case, you chose to forego buying coverage that would have paid for your vehicle without regard for fault, and you also chose not to buy additional insurance when taking your car to a different country. So it is definitely not your insurance company’s problem. </p>
<p>That leaves you with the recourse that you can hire a lawyer in Ontario to bring a lawsuit against the driver of the other vehicle. Whether or not the courts will hold that person liable is a matter of Canadian law.</p>
<p>Let’s not get too carried away. If you answer the question I asked initially, it’s possible I can help you further. Have you asked your claims adjuster what the hold up is with payment for your car? Typically, if someone does not have collision coverage, the company would not even appraise your car. However, Allstate has appraised your car so it would appear that they ARE going to pay you. If you don’t get a satisfactory answer, ask to speak to a supervisor and find out why the delay. How long ago did this happen? Often, when you have two offices, one in Canada and one in the U.S., handling a claim, there can be delays.</p>
<p>Where I live, you don’t have to have auto insurance. I was rear-ended by a guy who was not insured. Since I had comprehensive coverage, my insurance company paid for the repairs, and then THEY went after the guy for reimbursement. If I had only had liability, I would have had to get an attorney and personally sue the guy for the damages. It seems like that’s the case with you. You didn’t have collision coverage, the guy who hit you doesn’t have coverage to provide payment to you, so your remedy would be to hire a lawyer and try to sue the guy for damages. Which, being international, could be sticky, or fruitless.</p>
<p>It has been 2 months. my Allstate adjuster in the US is not making any progress - according to her she had no success contacting the Canadian Allstate office. She has no police report, only some initial info early on from another Allstate adjuster who went out and assessed the car and called it totalled.</p>
<p>If I have to sue, even my own insurance company, I need to add up the damages so an attorney in Canada will take my case. I want to sue for:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>car replacement value</p></li>
<li><p>car rental back to US</p></li>
<li><p>extra night of hotel because the rental car they brought to me must stay in
in canda, so I had to rent a different car next day that has US rental
return (Hertz)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>4a. loss of use of car for 2 weeks or /</p>
<p>4b. I have an idled 2nd car in the garage which did not pass state inspection
and therefore we dont drive it. I had to put on anti-sway bars, new tires
…etc to make it pass inspection and drivable again</p>
<pre><code>so either sue for 4A (loss of use of car by the day) or sue for unnecessary
expense of making my idle vehicle drivable again
</code></pre>
<ol>
<li>pain and suffering ? emotional distress ?</li>
</ol>
<p>Look forward to your thought and comments. Thank you.</p>
<p>jude - your carrier paid your claim through your uninsured motorist coverage. Comprehensive does not cover auto collisions. It covers hitting a deer or an act of God, fire, etc. Collision covers your damage when you’re at fault. Since the other driver was uninsured, your insurance is obligated to pay if you carry uninsured motorist insurance. Many people do not carry enough uninsured motorist coverage - I recommend that you get as much as you can. If not and you are injured by an uninsured money who is judgment proof - and most are - you could have no coverage at all. Collision and comprehensive will not help you in that case. </p>
<p>Sethcolby - you will likely only get the actual value of the car unless there is gap insurance. You will not get anything for fixing up your other car. That is irrelevant. You may get rental car expense. First you need to talk to a lawyer who understands what happens when an American driver, with insurance in a tort state, is hit by a Canadian driver, with no fault. There are different versions of no fault in Canada. If you have to sue the Canadian driver, you will need a Canadian lawyer. If you have to sue your own company, then you get an American lawyer, but you have to find a lot of things before you’re ready to sue anyone.</p>
<p>seth, your U.S. adjuster sounds incompetent. There is absolutely no reason that she would have no success contacting the Canadian Allstate office. I suggest you call her back and ask to speak to her supervisor. Her supervisor will review the file and determine what the problem is. </p>
<p>Do you have the information as to who at the Canadian office is handling the claim? The person’s name, phone number? The claim number? If so, I’d be happy to contact them for you (I live in Toronto) and find out what is going on in the office here. Just send me the information via PM or email. I put myself through grad school working for an insurance company.</p>
<p>I agree with alwaysamom - the adjuster has backburnered your claim - probably hoping you’ll go away. Ask if a letter has been written to the Canadian office - ask for copies of correspondence. Ask to be cc’d on emails. The adjuster has a pile of claims on her desk and since yours is just property damage, it is not a priority. You will have to become the squeaky wheel.</p>
Sethcolby, at least in the States, you never get replacement value even if you have your own coverage. You get depreciated value from insurance companies, unless you have a prohibitively expensive insurance policy (or your car is very new - some companies have enhanced their policies for replacement value for cars less than 2 years old). We had that happen when our car was stolen and totalled; our own company paid only what the car was worth at the time it was totalled. We had to come up with the difference to buy a new car.</p>
<p>If that’s what you’re looking for, don’t bother. If your car was not worth much to begin with, you’ll spend more in attorneys’ fees than you’ll recover. </p>
<p>At least in US law, rental car, hotel costs, and costs to fix your other car to make it driveable are not recoverable. And “pain & suffering” is compensable only for bodily injury, not for simple aggravation.</p>
<p>See if you can talk to an Ontario attorney for little fee for a consultation. (American plaintiff lawyers do that all the time.)</p>
<p>Chedva’s right. Look up the blue book value of your car and that’s about all you’ll get and the insurance company will try to figure out a way to give you less - unless Canadian insurance coverage is very different. Do you have rental car coverage on your insurance?</p>
<p>sethcolby, I will post this here rather than PM you, in case anyone else is interested in a definitive answer. I happened to be at a function this past weekend where I was talking to a woman who is a claims supervisor with Allstate here in Ontario. I explained your situation to her and she confirmed that Allstate would, indeed, pay for your damages and settle the total loss of your car, even though you do not have collision coverage. There would be no subrogation. As I suspected, they would not have inspected your car if they had no intention of paying for it. Her suggestion was the same one I made to you initially, call the adjuster and request to speak to her supervisor if you have still not received any satisfaction. There is no reason that it should have dragged on for two months.</p>
<p>Closure finally after 5 months. I received my award.</p>
<p>Fact: no-fault in Ontario,CN is a jargon for body injury. You can receive immediate care regardless who’s at fault if you purchase auto insurance in ONT (the only kind of autoins is no-fault). </p>
<p>Fact: property damage to your car, you also receive repair from your own insurance, but if you are out-of-state and does not carry a no-fault insurance policy of your own, you will collect from you own insurance if said insurance co if licensed to operate in ONT and signed on to the DP (direct compensation - another insurance legalese meaning paying your customer directly as part of bizzare arrangement of government and insurance companies), then your said insurance will pay your property damage if you are found to be not responsible for the accident.</p>
<p>Thank you for your support with exception of CALMOM who was even making a case against me eg, no compensation, what if a tree fell on your car. Not a good comparison. Tree falling on car is act of nature. Careless driver hit and totalled 3 cars is act of the driver and by the bizzare arrangement of insurance companies in Ontario, justice is finally served when I was persistent in coming after the insurance company.</p>