Last updated: 2026-05-16 · Reviewed by: HurtCallMax Editorial Team · Reading time: 9 min · General information about Alberta auto-insurance accident benefits. Not legal advice for your specific case. Call 780-900-6022 for a free case review.

Bottom line: Every standard Alberta auto-insurance policy includes mandatory Section B accident benefits — medical, rehabilitation, and income-replacement coverage that pays regardless of who caused the accident. These benefits are paid by your own insurer (or the at-fault driver's insurer if you are a non-vehicle-owning pedestrian or cyclist). They are separate from any tort claim against the at-fault driver and they have shorter notice deadlines — specifically, you must notify the insurer within 30 days of the accident or risk losing the benefits. Section B is paid out of pocket whether or not you ever sue anyone. Almost every injured Albertan should be claiming them. Many are not, because their lawyer never told them or because they assumed Section B and the tort claim were the same thing.

1. What Section B is

“Section B” refers to the accident-benefits section of Alberta's Standard Automobile Policy (SPF No. 1), the standard auto-insurance contract regulated under the Alberta Insurance Act, RSA 2000, c I-3. Every Alberta auto policy must include Section B coverage; this is mandatory.

Section B has four sub-parts. Each covers a different category of benefit:

• Medical Payments — reimbursement for reasonable medical, surgical, dental, chiropractic, optometric, hospital, professional nursing, and ambulance expenses incurred within two years of the accident. Coverage limit: $50,000 per insured per accident.
• Funeral Benefit — up to $5,000 toward funeral expenses if the insured dies as a result of the accident.
• Death and Disability Benefits — lump-sum or weekly benefits for permanent total disability or death. Schedule of amounts based on the type and extent of disability.
• Loss of Income Benefit (weekly indemnity) — weekly income replacement of up to $400 per week, paid for up to 104 weeks (two years) for total disability that prevents the insured from performing the essential duties of their occupation.

These are the standard limits as of 2026. The figures have not been meaningfully revised in many years and they are widely regarded as inadequate for serious-injury cases — the $400/week cap especially. Most Alberta auto-policy holders have no idea how low Section B limits are until they need them.

2. The 30-day notice deadline (critical)

The Standard Automobile Policy requires the insured to give the insurer written notice of the loss within 30 days of the accident, with the formal proof of claim (a sworn statement of the injuries and medical treatment) within 90 days. Miss the 30-day notice and the insurer can deny the claim on technical grounds.

In practice, insurers rarely deny Section B claims for late notice when the claimant has a good reason — the injuries themselves are sometimes a good reason — but the rule exists and is occasionally enforced. The action item is simple: notify your auto insurer of the accident in writing within 30 days, even if you have not yet decided whether to make a claim. A one-line email is enough to preserve the right.

3. Section B vs. the tort claim — they are SEPARATE

The most common confusion in Alberta personal-injury practice is the relationship between Section B benefits and the tort claim against the at-fault driver:

• Section B is paid by your own insurer (or the at-fault driver's insurer if you are a non-vehicle-owning pedestrian or cyclist), regardless of fault, up to the statutory limits above. Paying Section B benefits does NOT mean your insurer is admitting fault; it has nothing to do with fault.
• The tort claim is the lawsuit against the at-fault driver (and that driver's liability insurer) for pain-and-suffering, additional wage loss above the $400/week cap, future-care costs, and other heads of damage. It is fault-based and requires you to prove the other driver was negligent.

Both claims can be open simultaneously. You can be receiving Section B income-replacement benefits while suing the at-fault driver for additional damages. At the time of settlement, Section B amounts already paid are typically deducted from the tort award — you don't get paid twice for the same lost wages — but this is a calculation done at the end, not a reason to delay claiming Section B at the start.

4. What Section B actually pays for medical treatment

The $50,000 medical-payment limit covers a broad range of treatment. Practical examples:

• Physiotherapy and chiropractic are the most common Section B claims. Both are reasonable and typical of treatment for soft-tissue MVA injuries.
• Massage therapy and acupuncture are reimbursable if recommended by a physician for documented injury.
• Prescription medications related to the accident injuries.
• Medical imaging (MRI, CT) if required for diagnosis — though wait times in Alberta's public system are often a barrier; private imaging is reimbursable under Section B.
• Specialist consultations — orthopaedic surgeon, neurologist, physiatrist, pain specialist, psychiatrist.
• Dental work required to repair accident-related damage.
• Psychological counselling for accident-related mental-health treatment.
• Assistive devices — canes, braces, hospital beds, custom orthotics — if medically required.

The reasonable-and-necessary test applies. Section B does NOT pay for cosmetic procedures, experimental treatment, or things unrelated to the accident injuries.

5. The income-replacement gap

The $400/week Section B income benefit is the part most Albertans regret learning about late. Practical math:

• A $400/week benefit equals approximately $1,733 per month, or $20,800 per year.
• For an Albertan earning $65,000/year ($1,250/week), Section B replaces 32% of pre-accident income. For someone earning $100,000/year, it replaces 20%.
• The benefit is paid for a maximum of 104 weeks. After two years, Section B income benefits stop regardless of whether the disability continues.
• The shortfall is the basis of the tort claim's past-wage-loss and future-wage-loss heads. A long-term disability case routinely produces a six- or seven-figure wage-loss component recoverable from the at-fault driver, separate from anything Section B pays.

Many Alberta auto-policy holders carry optional excess Section B coverage (e.g., SEF 44 endorsement, which provides additional underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage, plus optional higher Section B limits). It is worth checking your declarations page. Many policies include excess benefits that are never claimed because nobody reads the policy after signing.

6. How to claim Section B in practice

• Notify your auto insurer in writing within 30 days of the accident. Email or written letter. Include: your name, policy number, date of accident, location, description of injuries, and statement that you intend to make a Section B claim. Keep a copy.
• Submit the formal proof of claim within 90 days. Your insurer will provide the forms. The forms require sworn statements about injuries, medical treatment, and income loss.
• Keep every medical receipt and prescription record. Your insurer will reimburse against documented expenses, but you must produce the documentation.
• If you are off work, ask your employer for a Standard Employer Information Form (the OCF-2 in some provinces, equivalent in Alberta). Your insurer needs proof of pre-accident earnings to calculate the benefit.
• If your insurer denies or delays the claim, you have the right to mediate or arbitrate under the policy. Talk to a personal-injury lawyer.

7. Pedestrian and cyclist injury — Section B still applies

If you are a pedestrian or cyclist struck by a motor vehicle and you do not own a vehicle yourself, you still have Section B coverage — through the at-fault driver's policy. The driver who hit you carries Section B coverage that applies to anyone they injure. The 30-day notice deadline still runs. Notify the at-fault driver's insurer in writing within 30 days, even before you have decided whether to sue.

If the at-fault driver is uninsured, unidentified (hit-and-run), or has insufficient coverage, Alberta's Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund (MVACF) operated by the Alberta government can pay Section B benefits and limited tort damages. The MVACF has its own notice deadlines and procedures — another reason to talk to a lawyer early.

8. The action item

If you were in an Alberta motor-vehicle accident in the past 30 days:

Free case review → · Call 780-900-6022 · Available 24/7.

Sources: Alberta Insurance Act, RSA 2000, c I-3; Alberta Standard Automobile Policy (SPF No. 1); Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Act, RSA 2000, c M-22.

Related reading: Edmonton Car Accident Settlement Amounts · Alberta's Two-Year Limitations Clock · Pain and Suffering Damages and the SCC Trilogy Cap · Case Worth Calculator.