Winter conditions can lead to accidents. Even if you’re careful, you could slip on an icy sidewalk and sprain your wrist or break your phone. If you suffer such damages due to the fault of your municipality, you could claim compensation. However, the procedures and the timelines differ according to the type of damages and the municipality involved.
Your city might have to compensate you if it caused you damages while removing snow. For example, your fence was damaged by a snowplow.
To ask for compensation, you must send a written notice to your municipality. The time limit is usually 15 days from the date of the incident or 15 days from first noticing the damages. However, in some municipalities, the deadline is 60 days. If you send the notice too late, you could lose your right to compensation.
|
Was your car hit? A snowplow could accidentally hit your parked car during snow removal operations. In this situation, you should contact your car insurance company — as for any other car accident — instead of the municipality. |
Physical injuries: you have more time to make a claim
You slipped on an icy sidewalk and were injured? You may be entitled to compensation from your municipality.
You must show that they committed a fault or were negligent in some way. With our winters, no one can guarantee that sidewalks will always be clear of snow and ice! However, a municipality must do what it can to ensure the public’s safety.
More than one type of damage? Be careful!
What if you suffer a physical injury and some other type of damage at the same time? For example, you slipped on an icy sidewalk, suffered an injury, and also broke your glasses.
In this situation, you must send the municipality a notice within 15 days to claim compensation for your glasses. As mentioned above, in some municipalities the deadline is 60 days. If you send the notice too late, you could lose your right to compensation for damages to your property.
For these damages, you have six months from the date of the accident, or the date you noticed the damage, to file a court action, so long as you’ve sent the municipality a notice in time.
You’ll still have three years to file a court action against the municipality for the physical injuries.