A collision occurs when your vehicle collides with another object on or attached to the road or ground.

Flying objects, such as birds and airborne debris, are not on or attached to the road or ground, and thus are not considered collisions. Many of these types of claims are paid under the comprehensive coverage of an auto insurance policy.

The definition of collision is important when you consider everything that does become eligible under this definition that one could collide with. Debris on a highway, for example, is on or attached to a road. If someone drives over or hits road debris, a collision has occurred. Same thing applies for street signs, parked cars, pedestrians and bicycles. The only notable exclusion is that of a living animal that enters the roadway in your path. It is stressed that the animal must be living at the time of the impact to be excluded. Deceased animals are considered the same as debris when relating to collisions. It also needs to be stressed that, sadly, you need to hit the animal to be excluded under the definition of collision. If the drivers swerves to avoid the animal and as a result loses control of their vehicle and hits a tree, ditch or other vehicle etc., the exclusion is void, as the vehicle has now struck an eligible item under the definition of collision.

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It’s not always as simple as you think. Imagine. You’ve just been involved in a car accident. Thankfully you were not hurt, but what thoughts are running through your mind? “What do I do now? Do I have to report this to the police? Well, at least it wasn’t my fault…”

Or was it?

Determining fault in an accident is not always as simple as it seems. Sometimes fault, or partial fault, can be assigned to you even though you feel that the other person caused the accident. And on top of that, you can be found at fault for an accident even if a police officer does not give you a ticket, or worse yet, if he/she gives the other party a ticket.

But how can that be?

Because insurance is mandatory, it must also be fair. The “Fault Determination Rules” were established by the government to help insurance companies provide consumers with prompt, cost-effective claims handling, and consistent treatment. These rules outline and diagram almost every collision scenario imaginable, and assign a percentage of fault, from 0 to 100, to each vehicle involved. According to the regulation, the Fault Determination Rules must be applied without regard to such things as road and weather conditions, visibility, or the point of impact on the vehicles. As well, determinations of fault are made independently of decisions made by police officers to charge a driver. A charge under the Highway Traffic Act does not necessarily mean that the person charged was "at fault" for insurance purposes. In the same way, a lack of charges does not mean that no one was at fault.

For example, if a car was unable to stop on an icy road and rear-ended another, a police officer may have told the parties that "no one was at fault". This comment relates to the issuing of traffic charges, and should not be taken as an opinion with respect to the determination of fault for the purposes of dealing with an auto insurance claim. In this case, the insurer would apply the Fault Determination Rule, which indicates that a car that rear-ends another is at fault. A second, and more drastic illustration, would be that of a vehicle turning left from a stop sign. The vehicle on the through road could be impaired, speeding and driving down the wrong side of the road, but if the driver at the stop sign proceeds into the intersection without making sure the way is clear, he or she would be 100% at fault for the collision.

In claims where the involved parties submit conflicting statements as to the events leading up to the claim, fault is often divided 50/50 where the damage cannot clearly verify one story over the other. Because of this, it is always advisable to retain independent witness who can support your version of the events.

Ok, that’s fine, but what if my vehicle was the only one involved in the accident?

Unlike a two or more car collision, single vehicle accidents are almost always guaranteed to be your fault. Why? Without the presence of another party to blame for the accident, the responsibility falls back on you. Weather or road cannot be held responsible as responsibility arises from an act or failure to act in a certain way. There are very few exceptions to this rule. The most common exception is that of a collision with an animal. Where this used to be considered an at fault collision a few years ago, most insurance companies now pay this under the comprehensive coverage of a policy. A second exception is that of a hit and run accident. Although there is no identifiable third party to which assign the blame, the victim may avoid being assigned fault by reporting the incident to police within 24 hours. This condition also applies to collisions with animals and is intended to deter individuals from claiming single vehicle accidents of other kinds under these exemptions.

So what does all this mean?

Quite simply, there is no such thing as “no fault” accidents in the literary term. “No Fault” in regards to insurance simply means that regardless of who is at fault, your insurance company pays for your damage if you have the appropriate coverage. In every accident (except the very few exemptions) there is at least one party who is at fault. In some cases there may be more than one at fault party. It is important to note here that as far as insurance is concerned, all at fault losses are created equal. What this means that regardless if you were 1% or 100% at fault, or whether the damage caused was $1 or $1,000,000, it will be reflected in your rates at the same degree.

How do I protect my rates from going up for small or single car claims?

The only way to avoid being charged for an at fault claim is to not have one in the eyes of the insurance company. This means that you would need to settle the incident outside of the police or insurance company. By reporting accidents to the police you are also in essence reporting them to the insurance company, as the police forward reports directly to the claims departments of most of the major insurance companies. In the case of a two or more vehicle collision, all of the involved parties would need to agree to settle privately.

All this said, my accident had other factors I don’t feel the Fault Determination Rules address.

As with any rule, there may be extenuating circumstances that would render that rule inappropriate. In these extreme situations, you would need to challenge the Fault Determination Rule in a court of law. Because of the time and money investment this entails, it is advisable that you seek professional advice before pursuing this option.

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If we told you that the government was handing out money for free, would you be interested? No, you won't have to testify at the Gomery inquiry if you accept the offer. All you have to do is set some money aside for your child's (or children's) education – and that's something you may have been considering anyway.

According to information released by Statistics Canada last year, university tuition fees have increased at an average annual rate of 8.1% between 1990/1991 and 2002/2003 – that's four times the rate of inflation. Last year, Canadian undergraduate students paid an average of $4,172 a year in tuition fees. Some professional programs charge significantly higher amounts than that; first-year tuition for a law student at the University of Toronto is currently set at $16,000. Add in books, food and housing costs and you could be looking at a very significant expense.

There are, fortunately, savings vehicles that can help you prepare.

A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a little bit like a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). While you may not deduct the contributions you make, your earnings do accumulate tax-free, and when your child withdraws funds, the growth is taxed in his or her hands – not yours. Since students tend to have little other income, they'll probably end up paying very little (if any) taxes on the money they receive.

Several years ago, the government introduced several changes to make RESPs more attractive and encourage Canadians to start setting money aside for their children's education. Students may now attend a wide variety of qualifying programs, including not only university but also community colleges and trade schools. Even if your child decides not to pursue post-secondary education, your money doesn't go up in smoke — you can roll all of your contributions and up to $50,000 of your earnings into your RRSP provided you have unused contribution room. In the worst case scenario, you'll still keep 80% of your profits and receive a cash refund of your capital.

There's also a lucrative Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) available to anyone who opens an RESP. The government will top up your plan with a grant equal to 20% of your contribution, up to an annual maximum of $400 and a lifetime maximum of $7,200.

You don't have to be rich to take advantage of the plan, either. In fact, if your family earns $35,000 or less a year, changes introduced a few months ago make you eligible for a CESG of 40% on the first $500 you deposit every year. There's also a new Canada Learning Bond that will offer children who qualify for the National Child Benefit supplement a special $500 payment at birth, then $100 every year for the next 15 years.

If you're interested in learning more about the education savings options available to you, we hope you won't hesitate to contact us.

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Driving a vehicle is a privilege, not a right. When we operate a vehicle, we have the responsibility and obligation of maintaining complete and total control of the vehicle at all times. We are also expected to operate the vehicle in a safe manner and adhere to all rules of the road.

Unfortunately, there are times when people ignore the rules, become distracted or make decisions that do not turn out the way they had hoped. These things are essentially what causes all accidents. Accidents are called "accidents" because though we may not always be driving exactly as we should be, people generally do not drive with malice, or the attempt to cause injury or damage.

That said, determining fault does not mean determining intent. A collision will always have at least 1 person who is at fault, but will seldom have someone who had intent. It is this separation of intent and fault is where most of the confusion and upset is generated.

When a driver is told they are at fault for an accident, they sometimes feel that they are being told that they intentionally did something wrong, or somehow chose for the accident to occur. This, however, could not be further from the truth. In fact, most accidents happen because, as mentioned, people become distracted or influenced by external factors or make split second decision that turns out to have unpleasant results.

Failing to maintain complete control of your vehicle is the most common reason collisions occur. Take for example a driver on an icy road. If you fail to maintain control of your vehicle on the ice, you are responsible for the consequences, including any collisions that result. If you swerve to avoid an animal or an out of control vehicle, and as a result lose control of your vehicle, you become responsible for the damage you cause. Because driving is a choice we make, we assume the responsibility to maintain full control of our vehicle each and every time we drive. If external factors exist that causes us to question our ability to have that full control of our vehicle at all times, then our choice becomes to either accept that risk and the consequences of our actions, or to choose not to accept the risk and thus not drive.

Distractions account for another good portion of accidents. Many things can startle and distract a driver from giving their full attention to driving. Spiders on the rear view mirror, children in the back seat, the sun in your eyes, the end of your CD, your cell phone … these are all things that can deter our attention from the road long enough for us to get into an accident. While we cannot turn off the sun, or the world around us, we can usually take preventative measures to reduce the effects these things have on our ability to focus on the road. Turning off the cell phone, pulling over before tending to children and wearing good sun glasses are all simple things that all of us can do to help cut down on distractions.

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The Risks of Lending Your Vehicle to Others

Ah, yes. Something we have all heard, or even said, so many times that we don’t even think about what these simple words really mean.

Children have separate ratings on auto insurance policies to cover the additional risk or exposure to loss that arises from their use of your vehicle. But what about everyone else? We think twice before allowing our kids to drive our car when they are listed and insured on our policy, but we toss our keys to a friend before they can even finish asking us if they can borrow the car. Have you ever stopped to think why we do that? Probably not, but you should.

Unlike listing your child, there is no added protection on your auto insurance policy to protect your rating against the actions of the people to who you lend your car to. So…..? So, basically by lending your car to someone, you are lending him or her your insurance policy and your clean driving record.

As the owner of the vehicle, you hold full responsibility for that vehicle and the actions of those who operate it. Simply put, if you give your mother, brother, sister, father, neighbour, cousin, friend etc., permission to drive your car, anything they do to that car (and other cars while in your car) is your responsibility. So if your sister comes over for dinner and borrows the car to drive down to the corner store for more milk and rear-ends another car on the way … it’s your fault. Even though your sister may have her own car and insurance elsewhere, the accident will be charged against your policy.

Why is that?

With auto insurance, there are certain coverages that follow the driver, and others that follow the car. Accident Benefits, for example, follow the driver. If you are injured while driving or riding as a passenger in someone else’s car, your auto policy will respond first to any loss you have due to injury (medical bills etc.). Physical Damage coverage such as Collision, Comprehensive and Direct Compensation follows the car. This is why no matter who causes the damage to the car, the rating for the accident causing the damage will follow the insurance policy under which the damages were paid out.

Because of this, it is very important that we as the owner of the vehicle, put on our “insurance company” hats before saying yes to hands held out for the keys to our car. We need to ask ourselves some very important questions:

1. Do they have a valid license? Seems like a silly question, but did you know that your coverage could be null and void if you lend your car to someone that you knew or should have known was unlicensed to drive? This includes lending your car to a person who has an improper class of license to drive your car (i.e. lending a G1 licensed driver your car to drive alone), or a person who’s license has been suspended due to too many tickets or unpaid fines.
2. What are they using the car for? You will want to know where and for what purpose they are using your car. Be aware that restrictions of your policy apply to all drivers, not just the listed ones. Are they using it for business reasons (and if so, are you covered for business use?)? Are they leaving the country with it (remember, your auto insurance is only valid in Continental Canada/U.S.A.)? Are they using it to haul trailers or carry goods, equipment or dangerous items?
3. What is their driving record like? Be nosy, you may be glad you were. Finding out your best friend of 15 years has 6 speeding tickets and/or 3 at fault losses in the past few years is something you will want to know before handing over your keys, as opposed to when they return your car on the back of a tow truck. This is where you get to play “insurance company”. Ask yourself “would I want to be the insurance company who is financially on the hook for this driver’s actions?” If your answer to this question is “no” then the answer to “can I borrow your car” should be simple.

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Take an inventory of your goods and ensure it is in a safe place away from your home. If you do suffer a loss, it will make filing a claim much easier. It's difficult to remember how many CDs you have, what the winter boots look like and what the pattern of Granny's silver was. Use a tape recorder, video camera or Polaroid to speed up the process. Or use a company that specialises in videotaping belongings.

Put your valuables in a safety deposit box. Your insurance company will help if you suffer a loss, but sentimental items can never be replaced.

Remember that your homeowner's policy will cover your possessions temporarily removed from your home - that includes the contents of your suitcase - so keep track of what you've packed.

Don't advertise that your home is empty - Give your home that "lived-in" look while you're away.

Leave your keys with a trusted neighbour who can turn your lights on and off, open and close your curtains, bring in the circulars, mow your lawn or shovel the snow, move your car or park theirs in your driveway.

If you are going to be away for more than two days, ask Canada Post to hold your mail and call the newspaper office to stop delivery until you return.

If you are leaving in winter for more than four days, you must arrange to have someone check on your home or shut off the water and appliances and drain the pipes. This is because of the risk of freezing pipes and the damage that would be caused after several days of water pouring into your home. Some companies could disallow the claim if you haven't made arrangements.

Timers are inexpensive and effective, especially the multiple-program type. Using them on lights or certain appliances gives your home a "lived-in" look that thwarts robbers: there's nothing quite as effective as a light or radio that suddenly goes on.

Ensure that all doors and windows are securely locked. Put a block of wood along the track of your sliding doors to prevent them from being forced open.

In an apartment building, ask a fellow tenant you know fairly well to pick up the flyers and other things that accumulate in front of your door.

Follow these simple tips and don't give thieves any breaks!

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Cell-phone driving ban now in effect

Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. Ontario is now the fourth province to ban hand-held wireless communication devices or any hand-held electronic entertainment devices while driving. Drivers in Ontario are now prohibited by law to use hand-held cell phones, text or e-mail, or view laptops or DVD players while behind the wheel regardless of being at a stop-light or in heavy traffic. Drivers who text, type, email, dial, or chat using a prohibited hand-held device can face fines of up to $500, as well as possible demerit points, license suspension and/or imprisonment.

Hands-Free Devices Only

The new law applies only to hand-held wireless communications and hand-held electronic entertainment devices. This means drivers must only operate wireless devices that can be used in a “hands-free” manner.

Hands-Free Devices Include:

• a cell phone with an earpiece or headset using voice dialing or plugged into the vehicle’s sound system
• a global positioning system (GPS) device that is properly secured to the dashboard or another accessible place in the vehicle
• a portable audio player that has been plugged into the vehicle’s sound system.

For more information, visit http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/distracted-driving/index.shtml

 Recent studies show that cell phones can be a major source of distraction for many drivers. Cell phone users are four times more likely to be in an accident than a driver focused on the road. Dialing and texting carry the highest degree of risk with all cell phone-related activities.

Ontario joins more than 50 countries worldwide and a growing number of North American jurisdictions that have similar distracted driving legislation including Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, California and New York.

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With the start of another New Year, most of us feel a burst of energy. It suddenly seems like a good time to re-consider our lives and think about what we’d like to change.

Why should the financial side of our lives be any different? With that in mind, here are a few suggestions to help make the New Year a profitable one—not just for the next twelve months, but far into the future.

Pay yourself first

For many of us, it’s hard to understand how our money disappears every month. Unless you have a regular approach to savings, it’s easy to miss out on the enormous benefits of long-term financial planning. So before you do anything with your paycheque, remember to pay yourself first. Start by putting 10% of your earnings into an investment account. A monthly pre-authorized chequing (PAC) plan can make this process automatic—you won’t even miss the money.

Maximize your RRSP contribution

The registered retirement savings plan is perhaps the best retirement savings tool at your disposal. In addition to its power to compound your savings free of tax, it generates an immediate tax credit—two reasons why it deserves to be the cornerstone of your investment plan. If you haven’t made your maximum contribution yet, or if you have unused contribution room available from previous years, do everything you can to make a contribution before the March 1 deadline.

Review your asset allocation

The allocation of your portfolio will shift over time, depending on the performances of different asset classes throughout the year. So it’s a good idea to review the balance of stocks, bonds, and cash in your portfolio in January, and see if any changes need to be made. You’ll also want to consider your exposure to various markets around the world. Canadian stocks have performed extremely well this year (particularly compared to their U.S. counterparts), there’s no rule that says that will be the case in 2006.

Pay off non-deductible debt

What’s the investment with the highest guaranteed rate of return? Paying off your credit card. Most credit cards charge double-digit interest rates, so be sure to pay yours off monthly. Or approach your financial institution about lower-interest debt consolidation plans. If you have a mortgage, investigate an acceleration of your payments. You’d be surprised how much you can save simply by moving from a monthly payment to a bi-weekly payment.

Review your estate plan

If it’s been some time since you’ve examined your estate plan, take the time now to review your intentions, and make appropriate changes to your will. (If you haven’t yet written your will, make it a top priority to do so.) You’ll want to pay particular attention to your beneficiaries (is there anyone to add or delete from the list?), as well as your executor (is your choice still an appropriate one?).

Remember your life

Always remember: there is more to life than money. Be good to yourself. Get some exercise. Spend some time with the family. Take up a hobby. Go for a walk. Volunteer your time to a worthy cause. Remember, life is short. And you can’t take it with you.

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Air bags save thousands of lives each year, according to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In frontal crashes, air bags reduce deaths among drivers by about 30 percent and among passengers by 27 percent.

Air bags, however, can be dangerous. If small children sit unbelted in the front seat, they can be catapulted into the path of a deploying air bag, which inflates with great force. This risk also applies to small adults—who must sit close to the steering wheel in order to reach the pedals—pregnant women and the elderly. Infants in rear-facing safety seats on the passenger side can be severely injured because their heads are in the direct path of an inflating air bag. If your airbag is stolen or it deploys, you must get a new one, but you will be reimbursed under the comprehensive portion of your auto insurance policy.

Drivers should have all children sit in the backseat wearing a safety belt. Infants should be placed in rear-facing car seats and put in the backseat. Small adults should move the seat back so that their breastbone is at least 10 inches from the air bag cover.

If this is not possible, air bag switches can be installed so that the vehicle owner has the option of turning the bag off or on, depending on the situation. In January 1998, NHTSA allowed auto dealers and repair shops to begin installing air bag cut-off switches. Before the switch can be installed, vehicle owners must complete a four-step process:

1. Obtain an information brochure and request form from NHTSA, dealerships or repair shops
2. Return the form to NHTSA
3. Receive authorization from NHTSA after it reviews the case
4. Take the vehicle to the service shop along with the authorization from NHTSA which certifies that the owner has read the brochure and met one of the four eligibility classifications:

• rear-facing infant seat can be in the front (necessary if the vehicle has no back-seat)
• driver's seat cannot be adjusted to keep more than 10 inches between the driver and the steering wheel
• putting a child 12 or under in the front seat can not be avoided
• having a medical condition that puts them at risk of injury when an air bag deploys.

Article as found on: http://www.iii.org/individuals/auto/lifesaving/airbags/

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