Case Comment: Duty of Care Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act
Recently, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered the duty owed to a volunteer under the Occupiers’ Liability Act in Baltadjian v. Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation for the Diocese of Alexandria, 2017 ONSC 61 (“Baltadjian”). In this case, the plaintiff,...
How to Investigate Liability in Cases Involving Self-Driving Cars
Cars with varying degrees of autonomy are already part of our reality. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Tesla alone delivered 12,700 of its flagship Model S and 9,500 of the Model X vehicles. According to the U.S. Insurance Institute...
Deliberate acts of damage by lessees and the murky world of insurance exclusions
The BC Supreme Court provides some clarity When an insurance policy exclusion does not come close to being easily intelligible, an insurer may not be entitled to rely on it to exclude coverage for acts of intentional damage by a...
No Vested Rights in SABS
One of the more confusing aspects of adjusting an accident benefits claim is dealing with the numerous amendments to the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS). Not surprisingly, during the life of an accident benefits claim, the SABS may be amended...
Disclosure of Expert Retainer Letters
The issue of whether a party must produce a lawyer’s ‘instructional letter’ when retaining an expert was considered by the Ontario Superior Court in Nikolakakos v. Hoque, 2015 ONSC 4738. This case involved an action for damages arising from personal...
Are jury trials in motor vehicle accident claims inherently unfair?
This is the very question that will be before the Court in the case of Kapoor v. Kuzmanovski, a motor vehicle accident action that was scheduled for a trial by jury in January 2017. Prior to trial, the Plaintiff brought...
Judge Critiques Exclusion Clause in Homeowner Policy
A recent Ontario Superior Court decision may prompt legislative changes with respect to intentional damage exclusion clauses in homeowner policies in Ontario. In Soczek v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2017 ONSC 2262, Morgan J. addressed whether a standard form exclusionary clause...
The Sufficiency of Reasons (Or Not)
A recent FSCO appeal decision from Director’s Delegate Rogers in State Farm and Asamoah (Appeal P16-00067, March 21, 2017) sheds some light on the requirement of adjudicators to provide sufficient reasons when determining entitlement and quantum of benefits under the Statutory...
The Future of Virtual Claims
LexisNexis Risk Solutions has released a study on “The Future of Claims: Touchless Claims Study”. A “touchless” claim is defined in the study as a claims handing process that requires no insurance carrier employee intervention at all. The research found...
The Agony of “De Feet”
Sufficient Medical Reasons the Achilles Heel of the Insured’s Claim (Franic-Temple v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, FSCO A15-006435, March 15, 2017.) When a taxicab ran over Ms. Franic-Temple’s feet and ankles, it was undisputed the medical imaging disclosed...
