Insurance Coverage

Published on: May 5, 2026

Are Harsher Penalties Necessary for Driving Without Car Insurance?

The penalties for driving without car insurance need to be more harsh. When you factor in that the cost of car insurance can range from $3,000-$5,500/year depending on the make of your vehicle and driving record; compared to the $5,000 first time penalty for driving without car insurance, the risk/reward scenario for deliberate offenders who are without any tangible assets is borderline tempting…Especially for those who are struggling financially.

But we aren’t advocating that anyone drive without car insurance.

Section 2(1) of the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act states:

Compulsory automobile insurance

2 (1) Subject to the regulations, no owner or lessee of a motor vehicle shall,

(a) operate the motor vehicle; or

(b) cause or permit the motor vehicle to be operated,

on a highway unless the motor vehicle is insured under a contract of automobile insurance.

What this means is that you need car insurance in order to operate a motor vehicle. What is the penalty if you are caught driving without proper car insurance? Let’s take a look at what the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act says:

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Published on: October 8, 2025

Hot Take on After the Event Insurance (ATE)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Insurance companies love to hear when clients have “After The Event” insurance or “ATE” as it is known in the industry.

What is ATE?

At trial, a Judge can order that the losing party pay for the winning party’s legal costs. ATE is a policy of insurance meant to cover a Plaintiff if they lose at trial and they are ordered to pay the insurance company’s legal costs. This means that the Plaintiff would be covered up to the limits of the ATE policy. The amount of coverage depends on the policy itself. The better the policy, the more the Plaintiff would be covered should things go wrong after a loss at trial.

How are ATE Policies Sold?

ATE is an insurance policy which is generally sold to personal injury law firms to insure ALL of their personal injury clients; or clients with similar contingency fee arrangements. You won’t see ATE insurance for clients in non-litigation sorts of cases. ATE can be sold on individual policies, but generally, these are either hard to come by, or very expensive. The companies which sell ATE typically sell them to personal injury law firms to cover all of their files, some of their files; or more than 1 file. The business model is set up for bulk files and not individual files.

Can I take out my own individual ATE policy?

I have never seen an individual Plaintiff take out and pay for their own individual ATE policy, although I suspect that it’s entirely possible. I suspect that the answer to this is “no“, but it really depends on the appetite for risk of the insurance company. They would want the peace of mind knowing that there is a competent lawyer advancing the case rather than a self represented Plaintiff. But, anything can be sold at the right price if the insurer is flexible. I would imagine that the premiums for an individual policy without a lawyer would be very high to the point of prohibitive. But, if you told an insurer that a Plaintiff was willing to pay $500,000 for an ATE policy worth up to $200,000; I don’t think the insurer would be opposed to selling the policy knowing that they would be guaranteed to make $300,000 on the sale of policy. Anything can be sold for the right price. Continue reading →

Published on: August 28, 2025

The Difficulty in Winning a Personal Injury Assault Case

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Goldfinger Injury Lawyers receives a lot of inquiries from people looking to advance personal injury cases arising from assaults.

An assault can take place in a variety of ways, in a variety of different places, between a variety of different people.

Think of it as a game of “Clue“. One day it can be Colonel Mustard, in the Conservatory, with the Candlestick. The next, it could be Professor Plumb, in the Ballroom, with the Lead Pipe. There are millions of different scenarios.

What does it mean to “win” one of these personal injury assault cases?

First, it’s important to make a distinction between a criminal case, and a personal injury case.

There is no compensation awarded to the assault victim in the criminal case. The assault victim is an innocent victim of a crime who stands to win nothing from the outcome of the criminal case. If the Crown is successful in proving that the accused broke the law, then the accused will be punished according to the law. This punishment can take form in many different ways. Normally, we see jail time, parole time, restrictions on gun ownership, restraining orders and/or payment of a fine to Court. The Judge can also order a payment of restitution, which is NOT an award for pain and suffering to the victim of the crime.

On the other hand, a personal injury case is all about compensation for the innocent victim of the assault (known as the Plaintiff). Therefore, “winning” a personal injury case for assault means that the Plaintiff is successful in having the Defendant pay them money for their pain, suffering and other damages compensable at law. This is what it means to “win” a personal injury case.

If a Plaintiff’s goal in the personal injury case is just to be an annoyance to the Defendant; then; there are other less expensive ways of doing that. But, if that is their goal, and if money is of no concern to them, then so be it. Lawsuits are a pain and a grand annoyance to deal with for everyday people who are not accustom to litigation. This is why wealthy people like to use lawyers.

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Published on: August 7, 2025

The biggest factor in getting compensation for your personal injury case

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Often people ask me what the biggest factor is for innocent accident victims to receive real financial compensation for their personal injury case. This is a wonderful question.

Sometimes, cases will be strong on damages, but weak on liability.

Other times cases will be strong on liability, but weak on damages.

And other times, cases can be strong on both liability and damages.

But regardless or whether or not the case is strong (or weak), on liability and damages; those factors and not the most important thing to getting a Plaintiff the compensation which s/he deserves.

The largest factor in whether or not a Plaintiff gets paid (or not) is insurance coverage. Simply put, if there is insurance coverage there; and there are no coverage issues; the Plaintiff has a strong chance of getting paid if their case succeeds on damages and liability. But, if there is no coverage there; the Plaintiff; in all likelihood, will not get paid regardless of whether or not their case is strong on liability and damages.

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Published on: July 30, 2025

Telling the Truth and the Duty to Disclose under the Insurance Act

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

“Thou shall not lie” is the ninth commandment, and it’s a pretty good commandment to abide by. This is reaffirmed at law when before a witness steps on the stand, or provide oral evidence at their examination for discovery; the witness either swears on the bible or affirms to tell the truth and not to lie.

But people are not followed around by Court Reporters and lawyers in their everyday lives. You are not required to swear to tell the truth before you start your day in the morning. Nor are you required to swear to tell the truth when you fill out some form of application. It’s just expected that you fill in the application truthfully, and not lie.

But, what are the consequences for lying on an application which may be relied on in the Courts? That’s a very good question. If often comes up in the form of insurance applications; like for life insurance, short term disability, long term disability or for mortgage insurance.

Often, at the top of these insurance applications, or on the first page there is some form of disclaimer or warning requiring the applicant to be truthful in completing the application, and identifying the consequences for not being truthful. But, few people play close attention to these details which may not be in fine print. The words might be in bold in order to better alert the applicant to the consequences, yet, they still go ignored in many cases because people have a habit of not reading (or not properly reading) standard forms.

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Published on: May 22, 2025

HBC Bankruptcy and Long Term Disability Benefits

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

After hearing the news that long time retailer Hudson’s Bay Company declared bankruptcy, my mind immediately went to the employees at HBC. The part timers. The full timers. The seasonal employees. The student employees. The “lifers”. The night shift employees. The early birds who stock the shelves. The office workers. The shipping and receiving crew. The janitorial staff. Everyone who makes the stores work.

I know that life well.

Before I became a personal injury lawyer, I worked retail at Sears Canada while I was in undergrad at York University. I worked in the hardware department and in the paint department. I saw the ins and outs of a large department store. I learned all sorts of things about paint, tools, brushes, stains, lawnmowers, power washers, dehumidifiers…. You name the home appliance/tool, I knew about it.

But, more importantly, I learned a lot about people from all walks of life, and how large publicly traded companies work and treat their workers.

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Published on: March 10, 2025

Do I need Car Insurance to Drive on in Ontario?

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Last week I was interviewed by a journalist at the Globe & Mail newspaper (remember those?).

She was writing an article on car insurance, and increasing insurance rates in general in Ontario. She wanted to know what a boots on the ground personal injury lawyer was seeing.

I shared with her a few trends which I had observed over the past 12 months:

Premiums were rising for drivers even if they had outstanding driving records with no claims
Part of the reason which premiums appeared to be on the rise was the increase of auto thefts; coupled with the rise in prices for new vehicles, labour and auto parts. I suspect that the looming tariffs and trade war won’t help in that area. Some reports are suggesting that the price of new cars will go up between 15-25%
But don’t fool yourself: insurance companies will find every excuse in the books to increase premiums. They will deliver less coverage, while charging you more money. You are paying more, and getting less in return.
Our personal injury lawyers have noticed an uptick in uninsured claims.

What is an uninsured claim you might ask? Good question!

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Published on: May 29, 2024

Dog Bite Cases begin and end with Insurance Coverage

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

You have been bitten by a dog.

The dog bite isn’t a small one. Rather, it’s quite a serious injury which will leave permanent and emotional scaring.

Your local Animal Control Unit is investigating the case, and has filed charges against the Dog Owner. But the charges, and the potential conviction will not pay for your past or future care costs, let alone compensate you for the pain and suffering which you have endured.

You retain a personal injury lawyer (hopefully one from Goldfinger Injury Lawyers) to help you get the compensation which you deserve.

If your case went to trial, you would win. It’s a pretty “open/shut” case whereby you were in the wrong place, at the wrong time. You did not provoke the dog. It was no muzzled, and the owner had lost control of the dog leading to the attack.

A Judge will have no problem finding liability against the dog owner, and that the dog caused your injuries. Needless to say, a Judge will rule in your favour and order that the Defendant pay you compensation for your injuries and future losses.

But this is not enough for a dog attack case.

Dog attack cases begin, and they end, on insurance coverage. The cold, hard, truth, is that in the overwhelming majority of dog attack cases, an innocent Plaintiff will only get paid the full value of what they are owned when there is insurance coverage for the dog attack. If there is no insurance coverage, then there is a strong likelihood that the Plaintiff will not recover what they are owned, or not make any recovery at all. When there is no insurance coverage, a Plaintiff cannot get blood from a stone.

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Published on: May 24, 2024

How a criminal investigation will impact a personal injury case in Ontario

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Sometimes personal injury cases are investigated by the police.

Sometimes, criminal, or quasi criminal charges will be laid on the Defendant (the at fault party).

What does this mean for your personal injury case, and how will your personal injury case be impacted by these charges and the ensuing police investigation?

Good questions!

This edition of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog will attempt to answer those questions, and more!

Criminal and quasi criminal charges happen in all types of personal injury cases.

In drunk driving cases, people are charged with the criminal offense of impaired driving.

In distracted driving cases, or for other driving offenses, people are charged under the Highway Traffic Act.

In sexual assault cases, the offending party can be charged under the Criminal Code as well.

When charges are laid, it triggers a police investigation, regardless of the severity of those charges.

The police have strong investigatory powers in order to complete their investigation into the incident. They can issue search warrants to search property. They can seize all sorts of records (medical, cell phone, business etc.). They can summons witnesses, who tend to cooperate more with police than they would with a personal injury lawyer for a civil case. They can call people in to the police station to give a statement, or take a statement (recorded or videotaped) from the parties in order to get a better idea of what took place.

The goal of the police in their investigation is to get down to the truth of what happened. The evidence which the police gather will assist the Court in determining whether or not the accused is guilty, or not guilty. If there isn’t enough evidence there to support the charges, or there isn’t a likely prospect of conviction, the charges will be dropped (in theory).

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Published on: May 15, 2024

Eye Popping Theft Premium Surcharges on Auto Insurance Policies

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

On June 22, 1990, the Ontario Government introduced the threshold for general damages in car accident cases. This meant that each injury needed to be deemed as a “serious and permanent impairment” of an important physical or psychological function. If the personal injury did not meet the medico legal threshold in the eyes of a Judge, then the case on damages for pain and suffering would fail,; regardless of fault. This seemed rather harsh to an innocent accident victim, but it was the new state of car accident law in the Province of Ontario.

The reason the threshold was introduced by the Ontario Government was to reduce the amount of personal injury claims. The fewer claims, the less money that insurers would need to pay out. This would save insurance companies huge sums of dollars. Those savings were intended to be passed along to every day drivers; like you and me. This is important because having car insurance in Ontario is mandatory when you drive a car. That makes car insurance a hot button election issue. Drivers want cheap insurance. Cheaper insurance was the promise from insurers and the government when the threshold was introduced. This was the trade off and the handshake deal between insurers and the government.

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