Should you add optional benefits when renewing your auto insurance?

Personal Injury Lawyer Brenda Hollingsworth discusses some scenarios that she has encountered and what you can do if you find yourself in these situations.

A personal injury lawyer says it is important to accept the optional benefits that your insurance company offers when renewing your auto insurance, citing multiple benefits.

Personal injury lawyer Brenda Hollingsworth told CTV Morning Live Wednesday in a worst-case scenario, such as sustaining a spinal injury, the money you’d be getting from the insurance company might not be enough without the optional coverage.

“And even if you have a successful lawsuit because the other person was at fault, the money you get will not be enough,” she said. “So, you want to make sure that you have the very maximum benefits that you can afford.”

The medical rehabilitation coverage is one thing Hollingsworth would upgrade.

“Optional benefits are really important to consider when renewing your car insurance. So, your accident benefits and your no-fault benefits, this is where you get your medical rehabilitation, your attendant care, income replacement benefits, and regardless of who caused the accident, everybody in the household gets benefits based on what you purchased,” she said.

On the bright side, she says, optional benefits are not “that expensive.”

“If you ask your broker for a quote for the optional benefits, you might find out that you get a very significant increase in coverage for not that much more,” Hollingsworth explained.

Hollingsworth says right now, there is a lot of mandatory coverages. However, the government has announced that starting next summer, many of the accident benefits are going to become optional.

She recommends accepting the optional benefits when the time comes for you to renew.

“It’s really important to have that coverage, because really bad things happen,” Hollingsworth said. “And so many people would say to me ‘I wish I had the optional coverage.’”

Car insurance is mandatory in Ontario. It operates under a no-fault system, which means after an accident, drivers submit claims from their own insurance company, regardless of who is at fault. This model is meant to reduce litigation and streamline claim processes.