Van attack victims have wider range of recourse options: lawyers

The victims of a deadly van attack in Toronto have a wider range of options for recourse to deal with the fallout because it involved a motor vehicle under the province’s insurance system, lawyers say.

Car insurance is mandatory in Ontario, and lawyers say the pedestrians who were hit and their families will first be able to access funds through the driver’s and rental agency’s insurance coverage and — if that is not available or enough — through their own motor vehicle policies.

Toronto-based insurance lawyer Eric Grossman said if the coverage of the vehicle driver or vehicle owner does not offer enough to cover victims’ needs, pedestrians who are hurt in a collision can make a claim against their personal auto insurance plans, if they have them.

Lawyers say regulations stipulate that car insurance policies must offer a minimum of $200,000 of coverage in scenarios where the other party in the collision is not insured or underinsured, which applies whether the policyholder was in their own vehicle at the time of the incident or not.

Grossman said this means the victims could have more recourse and a deeper pool of funds from which to recover damages compared to mass-casualty attacks that do not involve a motor vehicle.

“Most mass casualty events don’t involve automobiles, and so people are left with catastrophes on their hands ... And there are no opportunities to recover for those damages with any regularity,” he said.

Ottawa lawyer David Contant said while the basic minimum coverage for underinsurance situations is $200,000, it can be higher if the victims’ insurance policies included added protection to upwards of $1 million.