You have probably heard stories from the United States about a jury awarding ‘one billion dollars’ (picture Dr Evil with his pinky finger in the corner of his mouth) for someone’s hurt feelings or otherwise seemingly trivial complaint. For some reason the famous cases seem come from California. But since this is not California, things are a bit different .
The benefit of Tort is that by electing Tort, you are also electing the right to sue an at fault driver for your pain and suffering or as courts like to call them “general damages”. You can abandon any hopes of a million or billion dollar judgement for general damages though. In 1978, the Supreme Court of Canada capped pain and suffering claims to $100,000. Indexed for inflation into today’s dollars, that amounts to about $350,000 for 2015.
So by electing Tort, you are electing the ability to sue for pain and suffering that will fall, in monetary terms, somewhere on the spectrum of between $1 for the least severe suffering and $350,000 for the most severe suffering. But remember, if the accident is your own fault, you cant sue yourself or SGI for your own negligence, so you get nothing.
In Saskatchewan, Tort also gets you some automatic benefits regardless of fault; for example, SGI will pay you a maximum of $388 per week if you are totally disabled and $194 per week if you are partially disabled as a wage replacement, and up to $25,000 for rehabilitation so long as you use it within two years of your accident. After two years, SGI Tort benefits end.
Some other considerations worth noting are:
-by electing tort your cash flow will be limited in comparison to No Fault
-eventual recouping of your losses, both pain and suffering and economic losses, depend on a finding of liability against someone else
-other people without package policies have only $200,000 worth of plate liability insurance, (and even less in some American States) so if someone without money or assets hits you, you need your own package policy with the family protection rider to make the Tort election meaningful and worthwhile and to collect on your judgment. (sorry motorcyclists, the family protection rider will not cover you)
- other coverage is an absolute must if you elect tort, whether it be a generous disability package at work that covers you for any disability or a similar private disability package that would pay you missed wages and cover rehabilitation costs in the event the accident is your own fault.
-If the driver that injured you is convicted of assault or drunk driving, you can sue them anyway, so in that circumstance, Tort is actually inferior insurance because you miss out on No-fault benefits.
-Minors must have an election to Tort made for them and minors and retired people do not reap the best benefit of No Fault, being the automatic Income Replacement Benefit.
Tort is a good option for some but not all. Tort is a good option for you only if:
1) you have disability coverage on the side that will provide cash flow when you need it most; 2) you have purchased a package policy with the family protection rider; and 3) you are a reasonably good driver.
And since you might be wondering, I have elected Tort.
