If an Amazon or Uber Eats driver falls on your property, who’s responsible in Ontario?

For many, cleaning up snow and ice is one of the most irritating parts of winter in Canada.

However, for delivery drivers, navigating uncleaned surfaces can be not just irritating, but also dangerous.

With so many more people getting packages and food delivered to their homes these days, INsauga.com has looked into who is responsible if a delivery driver, such as those who work for Amazon or Uber Eats, slips and falls on a snowy or icy residential property in Ontario and what could happen afterwards.

Alexandra Victoros, an associate lawyer at Kitchener-based Dietrich Law Office, said ultimately it is the responsibility of the homeowner to make sure their property is “kept reasonably safe.”

“If there is ice and snow on your property, you are expected to have maintained it within a reasonable period of time,” Victoros said.

She said that includes shoveling the driveway and pathway. If it’s icy, salt or sand should be placed down to prevent individuals from slipping and falling, she said.

If someone is renting a property, then the responsibility might fall on the individual renting, depending on the lease agreement, Victoros noted.

“Property lines, however, are a little bit fuzzy,” she said.

“Not all people are aware of this, but sidewalks and anything below the sidewalk out onto the street … are actually owned by the city. So even though bylaws state that homeowners or renters or whomever are responsible for maintaining that area, technically it’s city property.”

Could a delivery driver sue if they slip and fall on your home’s property?

If a delivery driver slips and falls on a residential property that isn’t maintained, they could sue for damages, including factors like loss of wages, future loss of wages, rehabilitation costs, the value of the injury, and so on.

As noted above, the homeowner or the renter is responsible for maintaining the property.

And Victoros said that in many cases where someone slipped and fell on part of the city property, such as a sidewalk or driveway apron, the city as well as the homeowner / renter could be sued.

If someone has hired a snow removal company, they could also become part of the case, Victoros said.

But in the case of delivery drivers, they could have Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) coverage and that complicates the situation a bit.

An Uber spokesperson told INsauga.com that its delivery drivers who either use bikes or walk are covered by WSIB. Those who use vehicles are not, the spokesperson said.

An Amazon spokesperson said that the company uses independent third-party services to deliver packages in Ontario and all of those drivers are covered by WSIB.

The spokesperson said Amazon monitors those services for compliance.

And so, if someone is covered by WSIB, they could either get WSIB or sue, Victoros said.

“WSIB would potentially pay for loss of earnings, non-economic losses, could be paying for rehab as well,” she said.

“Or if they opt to sue the homeowner, then they would opt out of WSIB and they would then begin a civil action.”

But they can’t do both, she said.

“It is one or the other.”

Victoros also noted that if an individual does sue and win, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) will ask to be reimbursed for all of the times it was billed for treating the injury.

If a delivery driver has private insurance, those companies could also seek some form of reimbursement depending on the situation. For instance, the insurance company could seek reimbursement for short- or long-term disability if the suit covered loss of wages and was successful.

Victoros stressed that the victim has a 60-day period to provide notice of the suit.

“That can really prevent you from bringing a claim if you miss the notice period,” she said.

“The notice periods are very much enforced, unless there is some really good reason why you haven’t notified the homeowner or whoever is responsible for maintaining the property.”

And in terms of who ultimately foots the bill if a civil suit in successful, Victoros said it’s “almost always” going to be the homeowner’s insurance.

“Most homeowners policies have a liability clause in there that covers, depending on how much your insurance is, covers up to a million, two million for injuries that have happened on your property,” she said.