How Missing This Step Can Ruin Your Slip and Fall Claim in Ontario

This video discusses the critical notice requirements for personal injury claims in Canada, particularly for slip and fall incidents. It emphasizes the importance of providing detailed information about the circumstances surrounding your fall, including the who, what, where, when, how, and why. For municipal claims, you have only 10 days to send written notice via registered mail, while private property claims may have different timelines. The video also highlights the requirements for claims against the Crown, which also necessitate timely notice. Jeffrey Preszler encourages viewers to comply with these requirements to protect their rights and strengthen their claims. For further assistance, viewers are invited to reach out to “Preszler Injury Lawyers” or call “1-800-JUSTICE”.

What is notice? Well, when you slip and fall on someone’s property, you have to notify or tell the other party why you fell, when you fell, and what the issue was that led up to your fall. That’s what notice is. And if you don’t do it properly, they will use it against you. That’s why I made this video. I’m tired of being the bearer of bad news for my fellow citizens who have fallen through no fault of their own, only for them to find out that they failed to give notice because of some law that was designed to protect, as far as I’m concerned, insurance companies and those that cause the harm.

The title of the video is “Notice Requirements in Ontario Relating to Slip and Falls or Other Personal Injury Matters.” Is notice really essential in slip and fall claims? Well, the determination of whether notice is required depends on a variety of factors. It depends on where the accident occurred and the circumstances in which the accident occurred. Now, what you’d think is straightforward for many claims is not, and it’s something that, if you miss it, could in fact be fatal to your claim. So when people suggest to you that, “Oh, don’t worry about any notice requirements,” well, in many circumstances notice shouldn’t be an issue. But there are limited circumstances where failure to give notice can, in fact, be fatal to your claim. And even if you do eventually give notice, it could serve as an opportunity to reduce the value of your claim substantially.

So why not just comply? Why not learn about the system, get the answers, and make sure that you do something that’s very straightforward? That means complying with the notice provisions that are set out under a variety of laws in Ontario.

The starting point in most slip and fall claims is that you, in fact, don’t even have to give notice. But when I refer to most slip and fall claims, I’m referring to claims involving private property. Those would be claims involving grocery stores, malls, other commercial establishments, or residential establishments, other people’s homes, etc. So if you fall because of water, a hole in the ground, unsafe stairs, or a variety of different hazards, generally there’s no notice requirement for those types of claims.

But once you start introducing certain substances like snow and ice, the notice requirements change—and it changes profoundly. A recent amendment to the law, which is the Occupiers’ Liability Act, a few years back, for some reason our government felt that the priority in our society was to make sure that commercial property owners and, most importantly, winter maintenance contractors had some further protections to make sure that they could not be found liable. So what they did was amend the law to make sure that victims who have slipped and fallen because of snow and ice must give notice by registered mail within 60 days of the fall. Failure to give notice within 60 days of the fall could in fact be a bar to your claim.

So you’ve got to give notice if you slip and fall on ice and snow—even though you might be in the hospital, even though you might be hurt, recovering—you have to send a letter via registered mail setting out the who, what, where, when, how, and why. What does that mean? You’ve got to tell them: What did you fall on? I fell on snow and ice. Where did you fall? I fell at the front of the commercial property at my local grocery store in front of the entrance. What was the substance? Was it snow? Was it ice? Was it both? What did you see?

When you give notice, you’ve got to set out when the accident occurred. You’ve got to provide the date and the time. You also need to let them know what the cause of the fall was. Was it snow? Was it ice? Was it a combination of both? Was it slush? And you’ve got to make sure this type of notice is delivered to the right parties. You can’t just send it to anybody—you’ve got to send it to the occupier or the winter maintenance contractor.

You may ask yourself, “Well, how the hell am I supposed to know who the winter maintenance contractor is?” And you raise a good point. But the law is what it is. It specifically states that you have to give notice to either the occupier or the winter maintenance contractor. The occupier could be the owner of the mall, the property manager, or the store owner. The bottom line is, you want to take steps to alert them of the fall. The purpose is so that they can properly investigate it, so that they can document what happened—or what didn’t happen.

You’ve got to tell them who you are. You should probably let them know that you were injured and that you may be considering your legal options as well. You provide them with your contact information so that they know who you are. You should keep a copy as well of this letter or email that you send.

Now technically, the law says that you actually have to send it by registered mail. That makes it even more difficult for victims of serious injury. You’ve got to go out to Canada Post and get the formal registered slip so that there’s a record that it was delivered. And really, in doing so, it’s quite wise, because you’re protecting yourself. If you send it by regular mail, which is acceptable although the Act specifically states registered mail, there are occasions when letters mysteriously get “lost in the mail.” They don’t seem to get their mail. That’s why registered mail is always a good idea—because somebody will sign for it.

So claims involving snow and ice—you’ve got to give notice within 60 days. And if you don’t, the first thing you’re going to get from the insurance company or in litigation is, “Why didn’t you comply with the notice provisions?” Yes, there are provisions that will allow you to make a reasonable excuse, but the law has historically been less liberal than we’d like it to be.

I’ve taken it upon myself to create a template for you, which is a compliant notice letter. You’ll be able to insert your fact pattern, your information, and all the important details into this notice letter so that it’s compliant. It’s easy to download, it’s fully customizable, and best of all you’ll be able to sleep at night knowing you’ve complied and given proper notice, without having to worry about it being thrown in your face at a later date.

After you’ve given notice, that’s just the first step in this battle and your journey toward succeeding in a personal injury claim involving slip and falls.

Now we move on. Surely there are other property types. Of course there are. We’ve talked about private property, commercial properties, and residential properties. Like I said, the nature of the hazard dictates the type of notice you have to give. But let’s say you’re walking on a city sidewalk or crossing the street. Well, there are different notice requirements for that, and frankly, there’s a whole other statute that deals with slip and falls or trip and falls on municipal property.

What is the notice period for municipal claims where you fall on city sidewalks? Remember, there are many reasons people fall on sidewalks—it can be because of snow and ice, or because of disrepair. Everybody’s seen sidewalks heave—that’s a common trend in Ontario because of the freeze-thaw cycles where sidewalks lift up and there’s often a one, two, or even three-inch gap between the slabs. When people slip and fall because of ice, snow, or disrepair, there’s actually an even shorter notice period. That notice period is 10 days.

The law specifically states that when asserting a claim under the Municipal Act, you have to give notice in writing, again by registered mail, but this time to the clerk of the township or city. When you go on the city’s website, you’ll be able to see who the clerk is and their address. Again, it’s required by registered mail, although often an email will suffice, and clerks in many jurisdictions will acknowledge receipt.

When giving notice, you must specify the who, what, where, when, how, and why. You’ve got to tell them it involved you. You’ve got to tell them what the hazard was. You’ve got to give them the location of the fall. You’ve got to give as much detail as possible. For municipal claims, you’ve got to specify what side of the road you were on, the nearest intersection, whether you were east or west, north or south of that intersection. You need to tell them what caused the fall and what you injured.

Those are the best starting points when giving notice. Make sure your notice is comprehensive, so that no one can turn around and say, “You didn’t tell us where it was, we couldn’t investigate, and now we’re prejudiced.” Take away all those opportunities for insurance companies or municipalities to use a non-compliant notice against you.

Then we turn to other properties not covered by private or municipal property. Those are often owned by the Crown. In Canada, the Crown means the government—not a municipality or city, but the federal or provincial government. It’s similar to municipal claims. The notice period in these types of claims is again 10 days. But once you want to start an action against the Crown, there’s also a 60-day prior notice requirement before commencing the lawsuit.

If it’s a claim relating to disrepair—let’s say you tripped in a courthouse—you’d have to give notice within 10 days. Again, the notice must prescribe the who, what, where, when, how, and why. You want to be comprehensive so the government can investigate the claim. Notice against the Crown must be personally served or at least sent by registered mail. The law specifically states you must provide sufficient particulars to identify the occasion out of which the claim arose.

If you do that every time, you’ll never have problems with notice. The starting point is always: how many days do I have to give notice? You don’t want to make excuses, even though sometimes you may have them—like if you were in a coma, or had serious medical complications. But courts rarely accept failure to give notice. It’s best to just comply. If you live alone, have a friend or family member help you.

Now, with the internet and the accessibility of communication, and the fact almost everybody has a cell phone, you’re expected to comply. You have to do your best to take reasonable steps. That can mean having a friend, family member, or loved one reach out. Or you can do it yourself. But don’t screw up your claim by not giving notice. Reach out to a lawyer—they’ll generally do it for you or at least advise you. They’ll give you the information you need to empower yourself so that when you file a formal lawsuit, notice isn’t used against you.

Don’t screw up your claim. If you can give notice, always give notice.

My name is Jeffrey Preszler. If you have questions about notice and what the notice provisions may be in your type of claim, you can reach out to me directly. I’m happy to speak to you about your rights.

I’ve made another video on how to win your slip and fall claim. It’s as easy as clicking on this link to get the best information I can provide, so you can set your claim up for success. Don’t screw up your claim—watch the video now.