Lawsuit Scenarios
Dog bites, backyard pools, teen drivers, boat wakes, defamatory Google reviews. What each scenario has cost Canadians, which policy responds — and where it stops.
36 pages
A Child Is Hurt While You're Babysitting: Liability in Canada
A child's injury while babysitting can produce a claim from a few thousand dollars to six figures, and minors' claims can surface years later.
A Contractor Got Hurt at Your House: WSIB, WCB and the Clearance Letter
Hiring a company doesn't end your exposure — homeowners can be pursued for a contractor's unpaid workers'-comp premiums. A free clearance letter closes the gap.
A Guest Gets Hurt at Your House Party: Your Liability, Explained
A guest hurt at your house party — a stair fall, a deck collapse — can produce a claim of $100,000 to $1 million or more, often arriving months later.
A Guest Is Injured in Your Hot Tub: What Happens Next
Most hot tub guest-injury claims in Canada settle between $20,000 and $150,000, driven by slips on wet decks — and the rare bad one reaches seven figures.
A Multi-Vehicle Pileup: When One Policy Limit Meets Five Claims
Your auto liability limit is per crash, not per victim. Five people hurt in one pileup split a $1 million limit; one catastrophic injury alone can reach $18M.
A Neighbour's Kid Gets Hurt on Your Trampoline: Who Pays?
Under occupiers' liability law, you can be responsible for a child hurt on your trampoline, even one uninvited. Claims can run from $50,000 into the millions.
A Sea-Doo Crash on the Okanagan: The $2 Million Afternoon
BC's Enhanced Care no-fault system stops at the shoreline. A Sea-Doo crash there is a full tort lawsuit with no mandatory insurance — claims can top $2 million.
A Snowmobile Collision on the Trail: Liability in Canada
A serious snowmobile injury claim in Canada runs from $500,000 into the millions. Off your property, liability insurance is legally required in Ontario.
Backyard Pool Accidents: Liability That Can Reach Millions
A backyard pool can produce liability claims of $5 million or more from a diving injury or near-drowning, against a home policy that often stops at $1 million.
Before You Install It: Playsets, Ziplines and Backyard Liability
Canada's CSA Z614 playground standard excludes backyard equipment — a home playset or zipline meets no safety standard, only ordinary occupiers' liability law.
Can My Own Passengers Sue Me?
Yes, in most provinces — a passenger, even a spouse or best friend, is treated as any other injured third party, sharing one policy limit with other victims.
Condo and Strata Liability: Who Pays When Water Comes From Your Unit
A condo or strata corporation can charge back its deductible to the unit where damage started — often tens of thousands, sometimes six figures in BC.
One Facebook Post, One Lawsuit: Social Media Defamation in Canada
Canadian courts have ordered ordinary people to pay five- and six-figure defamation awards over Facebook posts — one BC case awarded $65,000.
Shared Driveways, Fences and Retaining Walls: Who's the Occupier?
A collapsing shared fence or retaining wall is an injury claim, not just a repair bill — occupiers' liability law can put both neighbours on the hook.
Someone Slips on Your Icy Sidewalk: Are You Liable in Canada?
A hip-fracturing ice fall commonly claims $100,000–$500,000. You're liable for your walkway and steps — not the public sidewalk, even under a shovelling bylaw.
Sued Over a Beer-League Hockey Hit: It Happens in Canada
An Ontario court ordered a rec-league player to pay $702,551 for a blindside hit in a no-contact league (Casterton v. MacIsaac). Income loss drove the number.
Sued Over a Google Review: Defamation Liability in Canada
A business can sue you over a one-star Google review. Canadian defamation awards commonly reach five to six figures, and home insurance typically won't pay.
When a Friend Helps You Move and Gets Hurt
An unpaid friend hurt helping you move or build a deck usually can't claim workers' compensation — it's a negligence claim your home policy is built to answer.
You Coach Kids' Soccer. A Parent Sues. Now What?
Volunteer coaches can be personally named in Canadian lawsuits. The sport organization's policy usually defends them, but its limit is shared program-wide.
You Doored a Cyclist: What It Costs and Who Pays
Opening a car door into a cyclist is an offence in most provinces, and fault is presumptively yours. Dooring injuries can produce claims past $1 million.
You Hit a Pedestrian: What Happens to You Financially
In several provinces, a driver who hits a pedestrian is presumed negligent until proven otherwise. Claims can reach millions against a $1–2 million policy.
You Lent Your Car to Someone Who Shouldn't Have Been Driving
Ontario's OPCF 28A excluded-driver form deems your car uninsured entirely if that named person drives it — a rare genuine uninsured gap in auto insurance.
You Lent Your Car. They Crashed It. You're on the Hook.
Lending your car means lending your liability — the owner answers for a crash the borrower causes, and one Ontario claim has exceeded $12 million.
Your Airbnb Guest Gets Hurt: Who Actually Pays?
Airbnb's AirCover gives hosts up to $1M USD in guest-injury liability protection, but it's not insurance you own, and your home policy may exclude hosting.
Your ATV Passenger Is Seriously Hurt: Who Pays?
Serious ATV passenger injury claims in Canada often run from $500,000 into the millions, and coverage can vanish the moment you leave your own property.
Your Boat's Wake Flipped a Canoe: Liability on Canadian Water
Boat operators in Canada are legally responsible for their wake; a swamped canoe or injured swimmer can produce an injury claim of $500,000 or more.
Your Dog Bites Someone: What a Dog-Bite Lawsuit Costs in Canada
In Ontario, dog owners are strictly liable for a bite with no negligence required. Serious attacks on children have produced six-figure claims and more.
Your Dog Ran Into the Road and Caused a Crash: Who Pays?
When a loose dog causes a crash, the owner can be liable for the full claim — often $300,000 to $1 million — and it's usually your home policy that pays.
Your Dog Walker Was Injured. Can They Sue You?
A paid dog walker hurt by your dog can generally sue, the same as any third party. Your home policy's typical $1 million liability limit responds either way.
Your Drunk Guest Crashes on the Way Home: Are You Liable?
The Supreme Court says social hosts who merely serve alcohol aren't liable when a drunk guest crashes (Childs v. Desormeaux) — but a defence can cost $100,000.
Your Firepit, BBQ or Hot Tub and the House Next Door
A backyard fire that spreads to a neighbour's house is usually a liability claim, not bad luck, and it can also bring a separate municipal fire-response bill.
Your Golf Ball Hits Someone: Can You Be Sued in Canada?
Canadian golfers have been sued over errant shots. A serious eye or head injury can produce a claim from $100,000 to over $1 million, paid by home insurance.
Your Teen Causes a Serious Crash: Are Parents Liable in Canada?
If you own the car your teen crashes, you're usually liable too. The largest reported Canadian award, against a 16-year-old's owner, was roughly $18.4 million.
Your Tenant Caused the Damage: Subrogation, Deductibles and Lost Rent
A tenant's water or fire damage triggers a repair bill, an uncovered deductible, often-uninsured lost rent, and a subrogation letter demanding repayment.
Your Tenant's Dog Bit Someone. Are You Named?
Landlords are often named but rarely liable for a tenant's dog bite — Ontario's strict-liability rule targets whoever 'possesses' the dog, usually the tenant.
Your Tree, Their House: Who Pays When a Tree Comes Down
Storm-felled trees are usually nobody's fault — each neighbour claims on their own insurance, unless there was documented prior notice the tree was hazardous.
How exposed are you? Most people have no idea.
10 questions. 2 minutes. No email needed to see your score.
Check my lawsuit exposure