What to Do After a Collision in Ontario: The Insurance Claim Guide

After a collision in Ontario, report to police right away if anyone is hurt or the damage appears to be over $5,000, and tell your broker or insurer within seven days, whoever was at fault. Your insurer then assigns an adjuster and sets your share of fault under Ontario’s Fault Determination Rules, your coverage decides what gets paid, and you choose the repair shop.

How to file an insurance claim after a car accident in Ontario

1. Get safe and stay at the scene. Call 911 if anyone is hurt.
2. Report to police if anyone is injured or the damage appears to be over $5,000.
3. Exchange details, take photos and video, and write down what happened.
4. Tell your broker, agent or insurer within seven days, by phone and in writing.
5. Get your claim number, fault percentage, coverage and deductible from your adjuster.
6. Choose your shop, then hold repairs for your insurer’s written consent or a reasonable time to inspect.
7. Check the car and the final bill at pick-up.
8. If you disagree, go to your adjuster, your insurer’s complaint officer, then the General Insurance OmbudService.

MacGyver Auto Body & Collision in Richmond Hill, Ontario, is a family-run auto body shop that works with all insurance providers, offering collision repair, insurance claim assistance and direct insurance billing on covered claims. This guide covers the claim itself. See our guides to roadside first steps, your right to choose your own body shop and network versus independent shops.

What do I need to file the claim?

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) says to have your policy number, vehicle details, the other drivers’ information and a description of the accident ready. Add your photos, written notes, officers’ names and badge numbers, and any tow papers. Your insurer may also ask for a proof of loss form. An adjuster is then assigned and tells you how much your insurer will cover. Some claims are handled in person, others by phone.

When do I report to police, and when do I tell my insurer?

Report to police right away if anyone is injured or the damage appears to be more than $5,000, under the Highway Traffic Act and Reg. 596.

• York Region (Richmond Hill, Oak Ridges, Markham, Vaughan): York Regional Police no longer run a Collision Reporting Centre. If police aren’t needed at the scene, call 1-866-876-5423 to confirm you qualify and get an incident number, then report online at yrp.ca within 72 hours. Call 911 for injuries, a suspected impaired driver, a struck pedestrian or cyclist, a commercial vehicle over 11,000 kg, dangerous goods or a transit vehicle. Collisions on 400-series highways go to the OPP.
• Toronto, including North York: Toronto Police say more than $5,000 in combined damage must be reported right away through a Collision Reporting Centre, at 39 Howden Road or 113 Toryork Drive.

Tell your insurer within seven days of the collision, or as soon as you can if incapacity prevented it. The policy calls for written notice, so put it in writing as well as calling. Late reporting can put your claim at risk.

How is fault decided after a collision in Ontario?

Your insurer decides, using Ontario’s Fault Determination Rules (Reg. 668), and states your share as a percentage. The rules don’t consider weather, road conditions, visibility or where on your car the contact happened. If a vehicle in the same direction and lane rear-ends you while you were stopped or moving forward, you are 0% at fault.

A police charge doesn’t automatically decide fault for insurance purposes. To question the decision, ask your adjuster which rule was applied and send any new information, such as a witness.

Which coverage pays?

It depends on what happened and what your Certificate of Automobile Insurance shows. Collision, Comprehensive, All Perils and Specified Perils are optional.

One exception: since January 2024, a driver can opt out of DCPD in writing using OPCF 49. That driver cannot claim under DCPD, cannot be sold Collision or Upset coverage, and cannot recover the damage from the at-fault driver or that driver’s insurer.

How does the deductible math work?

Your DCPD deductible, if you have one, is the amount on your Certificate multiplied by the percentage you were not at fault, and you cannot sue the other driver to get it back. A Collision deductible is multiplied by the percentage you were at fault.

Take the standard policy’s own figures: a $300 DCPD deductible and a $500 Collision deductible.

• 0% at fault: you pay $300, or nothing with a $0 DCPD deductible.
• 25% at fault: $225 (75% of $300) plus $125 (25% of $500), so you pay $350.
• 25% at fault, no Collision: $225, plus 25% of the repair bill, your at-fault share.

Should I claim at all, and will my premium go up?

Tell your insurer either way, within the seven days. Whether to also ask it to pay is a question for your broker, and a free collision estimate gives you a repair figure to set against your deductible share.

Ontario’s Reg. 664 bars insurers from using past claims in rate classification if the accident happened on or after September 1, 2010 and the insured person was 25% or less at fault. Insurers also can’t consider a not-at-fault DCPD or accident-benefits claim when deciding whether to issue, renew or end a policy. Your premium can still change at renewal for other reasons.

On private passenger vehicles, a minor at-fault accident also can’t be considered, unless there is more than one in three years. Minor means $5,000 or less of damage to each vehicle, paid by or for the at-fault driver, with no injuries and no insurer payment.

What if the car can’t be driven?

Outside a restricted tow zone, you choose the tow company and destination. Don’t sign a blank form. In the 15 zones on Greater Toronto and Hamilton highways, such as Highway 404 from the 401 to Major Mackenzie Drive, only the authorized company can tow you. Storage charges can add up, so call your adjuster right away. We coordinate 24/7 towing through partners, though not from restricted zones.

How do the estimate, appraisal and supplements work?

FSRA says your insurer may suggest a preferred shop, and you can still use the shop you choose as long as your insurer approves the estimate.

1. Estimate. We inspect the vehicle and send photos and a digital estimate to your insurer’s appraiser.
2. Inspection, often called the appraisal. Your insurer can inspect at any reasonable time. Apart from work that protects the vehicle from further damage, repairs should wait for written consent or a reasonable time to inspect.
3. Supplements. This is shop language, not a legal term. When teardown reveals hidden damage, we send it for approval before repairing it. Frame straightening comes with recorded measurements for the insurer.

Searching for an insurance-approved collision centre? Ontario has no licence by that name. We are independent, not in any insurer’s network, and work with all insurance providers.

Who pays for a rental during repairs?

Under DCPD, your insurer covers loss of use for the share you were not at fault for, and the policy’s 0%-at-fault example includes reasonable alternate transportation. Otherwise, OPCF 20 helps with rental costs if the loss comes from a peril you are insured for, but only if you bought it, and it has limits. You choose the rental company, and we help with setup where your coverage includes one.

What should I check at pick-up?

Check the final bill against what your insurer approved, supplements included, and take any gap to your adjuster. With direct billing, you normally pay your deductible share plus anything not approved. In daylight, check paint colour against the panels beside the repair, panel gaps and dash warning lights. After structural work, ask for the final measurements. Our Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee covers workmanship on body and paint repairs we perform.

What happens if the car is a total loss?

The insurer pays the lower of the repair cost or the vehicle’s actual cash value, less your deductible, and keeps the salvage if it pays that value or replaces the vehicle. Actual cash value is roughly what a comparable used vehicle would cost, given mileage, age, condition and average retail price.

If the offer looks low, FSRA suggests averaging the prices of five similar vehicles and raising it with your adjuster. OPCF 43, if you bought it, removes the insurer’s right to deduct depreciation, subject to its conditions, so ask your broker. Ontario brands write-offs Irreparable (parts or scrap only) or Salvage (repairable, but it must pass a structural inspection to become Rebuilt).

What if I disagree with my insurer?

Start with your adjuster, then your insurer’s complaint officer, and ask for a final position letter. With it you can go to the General Insurance OmbudService (GIO), if your insurer is listed on giocanada.org. It is free, though its final report is not binding. FSRA can review whether a company followed the rules, but it does not set claim amounts.

If you disagree on value, repair cost or the amount payable, you can ask for an appraisal under the Insurance Act once your insurer has your proof of loss. You each appoint and pay an appraiser, the two choose an umpire, and you share that cost. Court is also open, but time limits can be short, so speak with a lawyer.

Hurt in the collision? The July 2026 accident-benefit changes

Get medical care first. If you may need accident benefits, tell your insurer within seven days, or as soon as you reasonably can, and return its forms within 30 days. For policies issued or renewed since July 1, 2026, only medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits are mandatory. Income replacement and other benefits are now optional and must be bought before an accident. If you renewed, your earlier benefits carry on as optional unless you agreed in writing to change them. Ask your broker, insurer or a lawyer.

About MacGyver Auto Body & Collision

4.8★ on Google from 169 reviews (as of November 5, 2026) · Top Choice Award 2024 & 2025 · Consumer Choice Award 2024 & 2025 · Lifetime Workmanship Guarantee · Direct insurance billing. We serve Richmond Hill and the wider GTA.

Please note: this is general information, not legal or insurance advice; check your policy.

MacGyver is owned by Tony (48+ years in collision repair) and his wife Sandra. Last updated November 2026.

Sources: FSRA; Ontario Automobile Policy (OAP 1); Highway Traffic Act; Insurance Act; Fault Determination Rules (Reg. 668); Regs. 596 and 664; Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule; Ontario towing and branding pages; York Regional Police; Toronto Police; GIO.

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