3rd party liability amount? | GTAMotorcycle.com

3rd party liability amount?

Chris-CJ

Well-known member
What is the amount of liability coverage that you recommend I have on my motorcycle policy?

Liability insurance provides protection against damage you inflict on other people and their property, but does not cover any of your own damages and is a mandatory coverage. Ontario's requirement is $200,000 in liability coverage on a vehicle insurance policy.
Currently I have $1,000,000 and my broker is recommending that I increase this to $2,000,000 and this will increase the premium.
Even though the increase is not a large amount, every penny counts.
I ride a street bike and mostly during daylight hours and the mileage per year will not exceed 10,000 km.

Reference: What is Liability Car Insurance? | BrokerLink
 
What is the amount of liability coverage that you recommend I have on my motorcycle policy?

Liability insurance provides protection against damage you inflict on other people and their property, but does not cover any of your own damages and is a mandatory coverage. Ontario's requirement is $200,000 in liability coverage on a vehicle insurance policy.
Currently I have $1,000,000 and my broker is recommending that I increase this to $2,000,000 and this will increase the premium.
Even though the increase is not a large amount, every penny counts.
I ride a street bike and mostly during daylight hours and the mileage per year will not exceed 10,000 km.

Reference: What is Liability Car Insurance? | BrokerLink

What do you feel comfortable paying for? There is no limit that you can be sued for so that is worth keeping in mind.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app
 
What is the amount of liability coverage that you recommend I have on my motorcycle policy?

Liability insurance provides protection against damage you inflict on other people and their property, but does not cover any of your own damages and is a mandatory coverage. Ontario's requirement is $200,000 in liability coverage on a vehicle insurance policy.
Currently I have $1,000,000 and my broker is recommending that I increase this to $2,000,000 and this will increase the premium.
Even though the increase is not a large amount, every penny counts.
I ride a street bike and mostly during daylight hours and the mileage per year will not exceed 10,000 km.

Reference: What is Liability Car Insurance? | BrokerLink
Catastrophic injury could exceed 1 million.
 
No lawsuit so far has been won for over 1 million but now that 2 million is available I am sure that will change, It may have even changed as last time I checked was a couple of years ago. Lawyers typically sue to the maximum available from insurance. On a bike 1 million is probably more than sufficient especially if you dont have much else.
 
I have 1,000,000 policies on each vehicle and a 1,000,000 rider that applies to all vehicles to top it up. Much cheaper than 2 on every vehicle. Interestingly the rider applies to all listed vehicles even if they are insured with other primary insurers. I just need to make sure the VIN's are on the rider.
 
Last edited:
No lawsuit so far has been won for over 1 million but now that 2 million is available I am sure that will change, It may have even changed as last time I checked was a couple of years ago. Lawyers typically sue to the maximum available from insurance. On a bike 1 million is probably more than sufficient especially if you dont have much else.
There have been a few crashes in toronto where stunting idiots took out a crowd on the sidewalk. Those numbers could climb as you are dealing with multiple injured parties.
 
You should re-read your policy. You're not talking about third party insurance.

You are party one.
The other driver/owner is party two.

A passenger would be a third party.
Increasing the "public liability" on my policy from $1 million to $2million costs about $12. It's pretty easy to burn through $1,000,000 in a liability court case these days.
 
For a bike I’d go minimum, I think that’s 300k. Add a 1m umbrella if you have a house. Not all insurers will do this, but it’s worth the ask
 
For a bike I’d go minimum, I think that’s 300k. Add a 1m umbrella if you have a house. Not all insurers will do this, but it’s worth the ask
This is what I usually do. But my Desjardins umbrella liability policy only covers my other Desjardins policies, not policies with other companies. So in the years when I find a policy cheaper outside of Desjardins, I get the extra $1 million.
 
Thanks All, for sharing your input.
The Insurance Co (M&W) has suggested keeping a $1 mil liability on the individual auto, bike, home policies and taking a $3 mil umbrella policy. My plan is to go with part (a) the $1 mil liability and drop the umbrella to $2 mil. The umbrella is handy as it covers out-of-country incidents (for umbrella type coverage e.g. malicious intent cases).

Previously I was a fan of the "bare minimum", but recently in the neighbourhood a house owner was sued by a trespasser, because the trespasser was bitten by the house owner's dog. The house owner had to shell out to cover the damages for "loss of income", "grievous body hurt", "PTSD", "medical expenses", even though the trespasser was wrongly on the house owner's property.

I hear that litigation is on the rise in Ontario and insurance "plus" seems to be a necessity.
 
Thanks All, for sharing your input.
The Insurance Co (M&W) has suggested keeping a $1 mil liability on the individual auto, bike, home policies and taking a $3 mil umbrella policy. My plan is to go with part (a) the $1 mil liability and drop the umbrella to $2 mil. The umbrella is handy as it covers out-of-country incidents (for umbrella type coverage e.g. malicious intent cases).

Previously I was a fan of the "bare minimum", but recently in the neighbourhood a house owner was sued by a trespasser, because the trespasser was bitten by the house owner's dog. The house owner had to shell out to cover the damages for "loss of income", "grievous body hurt", "PTSD", "medical expenses", even though the trespasser was wrongly on the house owner's property.

I hear that litigation is on the rise in Ontario and insurance "plus" seems to be a necessity.
Re the liability amount, I carry $2 M as the extra is relatively cheap.

Do people get greedy when the pocket is deeper? Definitely.

It's bad luck to get hit by a brick falling from a building under restoration. It's worse luck to get hit by a meteorite and there's no one to sue.

Re the dog incident, the devil is in the details. Was it a prowler at night and an outside dog in a well fenced yard or a kid retrieving a tennis ball in broad daylight and the dog set on him? Somewhere in between?
 
Previously I was a fan of the "bare minimum", but recently in the neighbourhood a house owner was sued by a trespasser, because the trespasser was bitten by the house owner's dog. The house owner had to shell out to cover the damages for "loss of income", "grievous body hurt", "PTSD", "medical expenses", even though the trespasser was wrongly on the house owner's property.

How much was your neighbor's coverage and how much did the plaintiff get awarded? My State Farm/Desjardins agent whom I've been with since the 80's said $2 million liability these days is sufficient, but of course is willing to sell me more.
 
How much was your neighbor's coverage and how much did the plaintiff get awarded? My State Farm/Desjardins agent whom I've been with since the 80's said $2 million liability these days is sufficient, but of course is willing to sell me more.
No idea about the details of the dog-bite/trespasser case 'cept that in Ontario the owner of a dog is liable for damages no matter what and oh, putting a "Beware Dog" sign further increases the liability, as the dog owner is admitting the prior ownership of a dangerous animal and failed to take precaution.
 
No idea about the details of the dog-bite/trespasser case 'cept that in Ontario the owner of a dog is liable for damages no matter what and oh, putting a "Beware Dog" sign further increases the liability, as the dog owner is admitting the prior ownership of a dangerous animal and failed to take precaution.
Considering there were 5,000 estimated bites in Ontario per year and I assume very few significant lawsuits I got thinking about over-reaction. While none of us want to be held liable for a dog bite we also have to practice risk management and risk reduction.

The alternative is to call one of the insurers that cover dancer's legs etc and get a blanket policy to cover everything and anything that might go wrong in our lives. The premium could easily exceed one's assets.

Regarding the specific case mentioned, one would have to go to court records to see what the damages were and the circumstances of the attack.

The unsettling thing is that if you look at the article below it appears the legal firm works on contingency so the supposedly "Injured party" doesn't pay any legal costs.

All too often the supposed perpetrator settles for what he would pay in legal fees to guarantee an end to the issue instead of paying the same legal fees and then possibly have a judgement go against him. In many cases there is also a non disclosure clause so one never finds out what the settlement really was.

Posted on behalf of Greg Monforton & Partners Injury Lawyers on Jan 03, 2014 in Personal Injury

black-dog-edit.jpg
It is estimated that more than 5,000 dog bites are reported each year in Ontario and that in Canada, 42 dog bites occur every hour.

Additionally, data collected in a study between 1990 and 2007 published in The Canadian Veterinary Journal identified 28 fatalities from dog bite injuries. On average about 1-2 deaths can be attributed to dog attacks. The same study also had the following results:

  • 24 victims of fatal attacks were under 12 years of age
  • 17 victims were male
  • In 22 of the incidents the victims were alone with the dog at the place and time of the attack
  • Sled dogs, huskies, and rottweilers were the caused the largest number of fatalities
The report didn't specific if any pit bulls were associated with the fatal incidents, however, the city of Toronto has indicated that since a ban on pit bulls took effect in 2005 the number of dog bites has fallen. In 2010 there were 379 dog bites reported, a 28.2 percent drop since 2005. The number of dog bites since 2002 in Toronto has dropped in nearly half while the number of bites related to pit bulls has dropped by more than 92 percent.

Since 1990 the Dog Owners Liability Act has held dog owners strictly responsible for damages caused by a dog attack. The only exception to the liability act is in a situation where someone is bitten or attacked on the owners premises while in the act of, or with the intention of committing a crime (such as a burglary).

If you have been bitten by a dog, seek medical attention right away. If possible obtain the dog owners name and address; contact local animal control to report the incident. Victims of dog bites may be compensated by the dog owner.

Victims should be aware however, the limitation period to seep compensation is two years from the date of the dog bite incident. With that in mind, you may like to contact a Windsor personal injury lawyer at Greg Monforton & Partners to discuss your legal options. Our highly trained staff are ready to discuss your claim and our lawyers charge no upfront fees if we handle your damages lawsuit.
 
Currently I have $1,000,000 and my broker is recommending that I increase this to $2,000,000 and this will increase the premium.

I'm curious, what was the incremental cost of getting the extra $1M in coverage?
 
When I got in my bike accident I spoke to about 3 lawyers. All 3 said I didn't have a case (because I wasn't injured enough) and atleast 2 mentioned that even in the situations when an accident resulted in "life altering injuries" no one gets close to 1 million in court.

Since then I have asked my insurance company to lower my liability and they have always said that 1 million is the lowest.
 

Back
Top Bottom