Most discussions about personal injuries in auto accidents tend
to assume that all of the involved drivers are insured, and their
identities are known. But what if somebody is driving without
insurance, leaving no insurance company to provide compensation?
Or, even worse, what if you are a pedestrian injured in a
hit-and-run, or struck by a stolen vehicle, and there is no way to
identify the driver?
To handle situations like this, Ontario has a little-talked
about safety net – the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims
Fund (MVACF). This is Ontario's payer of last resort,
a government insurance program that steps in when there is no other
insurance available.
The MVACF was established in 1962 by the Motor Vehicle Accident
Claims Act to help those unable to seek compensation from any other
source. It wasn't the first measure the Ontario government had
used for this purpose – it was originally a replacement of
the Unsatisfied Judgement Fund in the Highway Traffic Act,
