When two insured Ontario vehicles collide and the insured is not at fault, the insured collects vehicle damage from their own insurer under Section 5 (DCPD), not from the at-fault driver's insurer.
- DCPD applies when:
- Both vehicles are insured in Ontario (or another reciprocal province);
- At least one other identified vehicle is involved;
- The insured is not 100% at fault; and
- The collision happens in Ontario.
- Fault between the insurers is allocated under the Fault Determination Rules (Regulation 668 under the Insurance Act), a no-fault matrix that prescribes fault percentages for common collision scenarios (rear-end, left turn across oncoming traffic, lane change). The rules apply regardless of common-law negligence analysis. They are administrative for insurer recovery.
- DCPD pays for damage to the insured vehicle and its contents and for loss-of-use, subject to the DCPD deductible (often $0 if fully not-at-fault).
Section 5 (DCPD) is distinct from collision coverage under Section 6. DCPD requires another identified Ontario-insured vehicle; collision covers the insured vehicle in single-vehicle accidents, hit objects, and contact with vehicles that do not qualify for DCPD.
Common mistake: assuming the at-fault driver's insurer pays for the not-at-fault driver's vehicle damage. In Ontario it does not. The not-at-fault driver claims under their own DCPD. The system is no-fault for both injury (SABS) and not-at-fault property damage (DCPD).
⚠️ Trap: The Fault Determination Rules can assign partial fault (50/50 or 25/75) in ambiguous scenarios. DCPD then responds to the not-at-fault portion only, a 50% at-fault insured collects 50% of the vehicle damage under DCPD.
Recall: What conditions must be met for DCPD to apply? How does the Fault Determination Rules regulation differ from a common-law fault analysis?