What is an “at-fault” accident?
In the eyes of insurance companies, there is always someone at-fault in a car accident. If the police say the accident wasn’t your fault, all this means is that you are not going to be charged criminally for causing the accident. But insurance companies have their own definitions of “at-fault.” As a rule of thumb, if you are the only person involved in the collision, you are automatically at-fault if you make a claim with your insurance company. This means, in the winter if your car slides on an ice patch and hits a telephone pole – you are at-fault. If you swerved to avoid hitting a deer and your car ended up in the ditch – you are at-fault. If you were involved in an accident with another car, then it gets tricky. The insurance company must follow the rules in their province for determining fault. These rules are very specific and can be applied to almost every possible road collision scenario. For example, if you rear-ended someone – you’re at-fault. If you made a lane change and si
