How Long Do I Have to Make a Claim in Ontario?
You have two years from the crash to sue for damages, and 30 days to apply for accident benefits once your insurer sends you the form.
What is the deadline to apply for accident benefits?
Two clocks run here, one after the other. First, you tell your insurer you intend to apply for benefits, generally within seven days of the crash. How long do I have to report a car accident in Ontario? covers that first step.
Your insurer sends you the OCF-1 application package. You then have 30 days to complete and return it. This comes from section 32 of Ontario Regulation 34/10, the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. Missing the 30 days does not end your claim on its own, but you need a reasonable explanation and a serious injury or hospitalization usually counts. Not knowing the deadline existed does not.
What is the deadline to sue for damages?
Two years from the date you discovered your claim, under section 4 of Ontario's Limitations Act, 2002. For most collisions that is two years from the date of the crash, because the injury and its cause are obvious right away. If your injury only became clear later, the two years can start from that later date instead. This deadline covers a lawsuit against the driver at fault. It runs on its own clock, separate from your accident benefits claim, and both can matter if you were hurt.
What if my accident benefits claim is denied?
Section 56 of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule gives you two years from the date of the denial to file a dispute with the Licence Appeal Tribunal. That is a different two years from the lawsuit deadline above, on a different clock, so track each one from its own start date.
| Step | Deadline | Starts when |
|---|---|---|
| Notify insurer of intent to claim | About 7 days | Date of the crash |
| Submit the OCF-1 application | 30 days | Date you receive the form |
| Sue the driver at fault | 2 years | Date the claim was discovered |
| Dispute a denied benefit at the LAT | 2 years | Date of the denial |
What happens if I keep no record while the clock runs?
An adjuster or a tribunal will ask when your symptoms started, when you first saw a doctor and when you told the insurer. If those dates live only in memory, eight months later they are hard to pin down. A written date beats a memory of one every time an appointment, a denial or a filing gets reviewed.
The Ontario MVA Companion Guide covers Ontario's own accident benefits system, including the OCF forms and the SABS deadlines above. Paired with the National MVA Recovery Guide, which documents the recovery itself, your file holds both the dates and the record behind them.
Every figure on this page comes from a named authority. How we check
Last verified: September 2026.