{"id":30798,"date":"2025-02-07T19:32:23","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T19:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wagners1.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/miceli-v-td-insurance-what-is-as-an-accident-under-sabs\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T19:32:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T19:32:23","slug":"miceli-v-td-insurance-what-is-as-an-accident-under-sabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/blog\/miceli-v-td-insurance-what-is-as-an-accident-under-sabs\/","title":{"rendered":"Miceli v. TD Insurance: What is as an \"Accident\" Under SABS?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re injured in a car accident in Ontario, you\u2019re usually entitled to benefits under the Statutory Accidents Benefits Schedule (SABS). But what counts as an \u201caccident\u201d under these rules? This is what the recent appeal case of <em>Miceli v. TD Insurance<\/em>&nbsp;(2025 ONSC 496) focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> How TD Defines \"Accident\" Under SABs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ms. Miceli was sitting in the back seat of her husband\u2019s car in a McDonald\u2019s drive-through. She was handed an extra-large coffee, which spilled onto her hands. Because the coffee was so hot, she dropped it onto her lap and suffered burns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ms. Miceli applied for accident benefits from TD Insurance and originally received some. But soon after her claim was denied, TD arguing that her injuries didn\u2019t qualify as an \u201caccident\u201d under the SABS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TD focused on section 3(1) of the SABS, which defines an accident as an event where the use or operation of a vehicle directly causes an injury. In other words, was the coffee spill considered part of the vehicle\u2019s use?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ms. Miceli's MacDonald's Coffee Tribunal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following Ms. Miceli\u2019s challenge, the License Appeal Tribunal used a two-part test to determine whether the definition of an accident was satisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Did the incident stem from the use of a vehicle?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Would the injuries have occurred \u201cbut for\u201d the vehicle\u2019s use?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ultimately, it was ruled that the improperly secured lid, not the vehicle\u2019s use, was the leading cause of injury. And because of that, the denial of Ms. Miceli\u2019s claim was upheld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Appeal and Ruling of Miceli v. TD Insurance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ms. Miceli appealed this decision. In this appeal the Division Court agreed that the Tribunal used the correct test, but it criticized how the test was applied. The Tribunal had focused too much on what triggered the incident (the loose lid) but ignored the fact that being inside a moving vehicle, with limited ability to react (due to wearing a seatbelt and being seated), made the situation worse and contributed to her injury. <br><br>The appeal worked and the Court sided with Ms. Miceli. The ruling stated that an accidental spill in a drive-through is deemed a fair risk associated with using a vehicle, qualifying it as an accident under section 3(1) of the SABS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Find a Personal Injury Lawyer Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you've suffered a personal injury and are looking for representation, <a href=\"https:\/\/wagners.co\/contact-us\/\">contac<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/wagners.co\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">t Wagners Law Firm<\/a> for a free consultation today. Our team of experienced are ready to help and fight for your rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re injured in a car accident in Ontario, you\u2019re usually entitled to benefits under the Statutory Accidents Benefits Schedule [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagners.co\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}