OHTA.ca

Hi everybody,

To make a long story short, I was travelling southbound on Allan road towards Yorkdale and just before the offramp to the 401 and yorkdale, a BMW swirved into my lane and cut off the corolla infront of me.

The corolla slammed on his brake and stopped, I slammed on my brake and stopped but the van behind me did not. He plowed right into the back of my car and the energy from the van forced my car into the corolla infront of me.

I was a lil beaten up after the accident from my body absorbing the impact of being hit from behind and then being hit again from the front.

Officers were called and information was swapped, I was checked out by a paramedic as I couldn't stand up from my back pain and my neck was in pain as well.

Now, the officer who showed up to the scene, took all of our information and directed the tow truck drivers to Yorkdale and he started to do his collision accident report there. I was given a few sheets of paper and asked if I was comfortable to give a statement, I was, and I did. My fiancee was in the car so she gave her statement as well.

There was only the driver in the Corolla and in the van, my car was the only car with someone other than the driver.

Now, this morning I called my insurance company and they said I may be charged at fault for part of the accident. She claims that because my car hit the corolla infront of me that I am responsible for that. To which I did mention that if it wasn't for the Van, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now because there wouldn't have been an accident!

Now I know they need to follow the fault determination rules and I have done my research, it states that if all cars are fully stopped, the person in the back who caused the impact of all the cars is 100% at fault and liable for the whole situation.

I was not given a ticket or charged under the highway traffic act at all.

I'm getting really worried and not sure what to do..

I'm hoping to get a copy of the police report from the officer who arrived at the scene and did a mini investigation but i'm not sure how to find him.

I have his name and badge number from the "Motor Vehicle Accident Report" (which only consists of all of our insurance info) and under the "Div./Stat./Det" spot he wrote "TSV or TSU"

My reasoning of getting the police report is to see what the officer concluded from his findings. If the officer determines it was the driver of the van who caused the accident and names him as the party at fault then I could possibly use the report as evidence that I am not responsible for hitting the corolla infront of me?

Thank you all in advanced,

Tom

from what you have described it appears aslong as the police report and all the witness statements say that vehicles A & B were fully stopped and not in motion then vehicle B would not be at fault

just give your accident report # to your insurance company and let them deal with it

O N T A R I O

Regulation 668 under the Insurance Act

(R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 668)

Fault Determination Rules

9. (1) This section applies with respect to an incident involving three or more automobiles that are

travelling in the same direction and in the same lane (a "chain reaction").

(2) The degree of fault for each collision between two automobiles involved in the chain reaction is

determined without reference to any related collisions involving either of the automobiles and

another automobile.

(3) If all automobiles involved in the incident are in motion and automobile "A" is the leading vehicle,

automobile "B" is second and automobile "C" is the third vehicle,

(a) in the collision between automobiles "A" and "B", the driver of automobile "A" is not at fault

and the driver of automobile "B" is 50 per cent at fault for the incident;

(b) in the collision between automobiles "B" and "C", the driver of automobile "B" is not at fault

and the driver of automobile "C" is 100 per cent at fault for the incident.

(4) If only automobile "C" is in motion when the incident occurs,

(a) in the collision between automobiles "A" and "B", neither driver is at fault for the incident; and

(b) in the collision between automobiles "B" and "C", the driver of automobile "B" is not at fault

and the driver of automobile "C" is 100 per cent at fault for the incident.

these chain-reaction accidents are unnecessary if people drove and stopped with sufficient spacing

Sorry to hear about your collision. Hope you are all right. If it happened today or yesterday, you'll probably start feeling as stiff as a board right about now. (It will go away after a few days.)

Don't worry about the insurance company. They'll square themselves away after they get the police report, as the post above says. If they still want to deem you partially at fault for the collision after they get the police report, take the information that iFly55 provided and remind them of it. If that doesn't work, go to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and file a complaint, and that should set them straight. Might need to jump through a couple of hoops but it will all work out in the end, I'm sure.

Thank you for the replies iFly55 and Radar Identified.

The phone calls have stopped for now because it's the weekend.

I was stiff as a board in bed yesterday and had to answer all these questions from the insurance company..

The tow truck driver was trying to get me to agree to have the car fixed at his buddy's place

I wanted the car fixed at the body shop I know of..

and the Insurance people want the car fixed at their preferred place...

Then I got yelled at by the insurance company because the cost of towing the car was too high..

go figure, I pay my insurance premium every month and they won't even spend a dime on towing the car, they threatened that they'll charge ME for the "high cost of towing"...

My main concern is to be able to physically get a copy of the police report.

8 years ago, I was in a car accident and apparently the insurance company mailed me a copy of the police report "by accident"

the insurance adjuster said I wasn't suppose to get a copy of it, however it was because I got a copy of it that I was able to argue that the accident wasn't my fault.

I'm very worried they'll try to do the same thing this time around too!

Last time they may have made a "mistake" to give me a copy of the report, what if this time they refuse?

I'd feel much more comfortable if I could find a way to get a copy of it without having to go through my biased insurance agent...

By the way, aren't these people suppose to be working for us when an accident occurs?

It feels like it's the other way around, they don't care, they just want to minimize cost and get you to pay higher premiums

You can obtain a copy of the accident report through the police service. There's typically a fee for this however, which is why it's best to get it through your insurance provider if possible.

The insurance company you have sound like real @$$hats. WOW, just wow. Maybe you should change providers after this is said and done. I can't believe they yelled at you for the "high cost of towing." Crikey. Most insurance companies say "ok send us the receipt and we'll give you a cheque" and that's it. As for their preferred place, well, yeah... but most will still cover it pretty much anywhere.

As Stanton says, call the police and get your copy of the report. If the insurance company continues to insist upon being jerks, get FSCO involved.

Hope you're feeling better...

Thank you for your replies Stanton and Radar Identified...

Yes, my insurance company's filled with Jerks who do nothing more than just answer phones, put me on hold for 20 minutes only to be hung up on.

the reason i'm still with them is because of my accident back in 2008!. It would've been 5 years at the end of this year since that accident and i'd be able to switch companies without paying a high premium for car insurance.

I'm feeling a bit better from the physio but haven't been able to get to work, I have to go back to work as soon as possible as I only get 70% of my usual pay check if I'm just staying home. But the doctor says I can't rush it because if I go back to work too soon I may risk aggravating my back and it'll be a longer process to heal

So far it's been a week since the accident, and I haven't heard anything from my insurance company.

I've called them on Tuesday and she said "We will call you when we come to a decision on what's happening with the accident"

Is it possible to take your insurance company to court if you disagree with their final decision of who's at fault with an accident?

If so, is there a specific process I have to follow?

I'm just thinking offense here, I wanna be prepared for a battle before they even know about it.

I wanna be completely researched and prepared that they won't know what hit them in court...

I've already read up and done some research on how to negotiate with car insurance companies in case my car is written off and they wanna give me something completely unreasonable for my car. Not expecting something crazy as cars lose their value through normal wear and tear, but I'm not gonna accept something like $500 either.

Thank you all for your time and your help in my time of need

Court isn't the first place to go if you disagree with your insurance company. If you disagree with their findings, often they either have an Ombudsman, or you contact the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. They will tell you what to do. You'll have to see what the decision of the insurance company is first, though. After that, first step would be finding out if your company does have an Ombudsman. If they do, call that office and talk to them. If they don't, go straight to the FSCO and they will talk to you:

Hey,

Sorry to hear about your accident. I am an employee of a personal injury firm, and frankly deal with obtaining police reports regularly, so just thought i'd try to help out a bit. You basically have to obtain a copy of the police report through the police service of the officer who investigated the accident. In your case, because it happened on Highway 401, you'd have to request it from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

YOu have to send a request in writing to the Accident Records Department, Try at this address:

Opp Downsview

2682 Keele Street

North York, On M3M 3G5

You would need to enclose a payment of $42.25 for obtaining the records. You need to also include as much detail about the collision as possible, try to include this for example:

Re: Your name

Date Of Accident : December 27, 2010

Location Of Accident : Hwy 401 And Allen Rd

Time of Accident :

Investigating Officer : P.C. (officer)

Badge No. : 111111

Accident No. : (check the paper the officer gave you for an ACC # on top right next to date).

Also include a small description of what you need:

Please provide me with a copy of the motor vehicle accident report, with respect to this accident.

I am enclosing a firm cheque in the amount of $42.25 as payment for the report.

You may also want to include a copy of the paper the officer gave you.

Finally give them your ID and maybe check their website if they have an actual form for you to complete.

They should be able to forward the report to you in a few months.

By what i'm reading, you may have been charged for not keeping a safe distance, just like the driver behind you. Although in this case the situation is different because the corrolla came abruptly in your lane and the officer may have decided not to charge you under any s. of the HTA.

Once you get the report, the first person listed in the report is usually the guilty party, also check under the 2nd person's details (it's the second window on the right, where it will also tell you who was charged with what.

I hope this helps out at all.

Regards,

Yes, Car accident injuries can be very scary, so whenever you face any car accident then I must says that your first step is to call a police. You should obtain the police report against them. And then after you should have to call a car accident lawyer.

AndruLuka wrote:Yes, Car accident injuries can be very scary, so whenever you face any car accident then I must says that your first step is to call a police.

The OP obviously had NO IDEA you're supposed to call the police when you get into a car crash... because, you know, he only called the police immediately.