Advanced Payments: When and Why?
With the pending changes to the SABS, tort adjusters will undoubtedly be called upon by Plaintiff counsel to make advance payments to cover such things as medical expenses, lost wages and attendant care. Seriously injured Plaintiff’s facing a combined $65,000...
Procedural Fairness and Due Process Trump Arbitrator’s Award – Appeal Allowed
As the sun begins to set on FSCO, Director’s Delegate Blackman rendered a Preliminary Issues Appeal order in Waldock v. State Farm (FSCO Appeal P15-00068, March 18, 2016) which serves as a helpful reminder to those who descend into the...
Jurisdiction (Not So) Simpliciter in an Out of Province MVA
The Supreme Court of Canada recently announced that they will not hear an appeal from an Ontario women injured in a 2012 motorcycle accident in British Columbia. This decision effectively upholds the finding of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice in...
Court of Appeal Rules that Contractual Limitation Period within Insurance Policy Overrides the Statutory Two-Year Limitation Period
The Ontario Court of Appeal has affirmed that a contractual condition within an insurance contract imposing a limitation period of 1 year will override the statutory two-year limitation period found within the Limitations Act, 2002. In Daverne v. John Switzer...
Insurers Can Lighten their Legal Expenses with a new AABS and LATs Workout!
In my blog entry of February 5, 2016, I talked about the upcoming changes to the procedure for accident benefit disputes. And further updates are now available. The License Appeal Tribunal (LAT) will be accepting applications to its new Auto...
FSCO Expenses Awarded after Late Withdrawal
In Shaazil Khan v. State Farm Automobile Insurance Company FSCO A13-014868, Arbitrator Charles Matheson awarded expenses against the claimant after a withdrawal two weeks prior to arbitration. The subject accident occurred on April 26, 2011. The claimant was a 6-year...
Destruction of Evidence
The destruction of evidence, either intentional or through negligence, impedes the ability of the trier of fact to find the truth and reach a just determination of the issues. The destruction of evidence during ongoing or contemplated litigation, intentional or...
Barring the Action of Family Law Act Claimants of Workers
The interplay between tort/bodily injury cases and workers’ compensation is often complex, but may prove to be a useful tool for insurers to attempt to dismiss an action against their insured. It becomes increasingly more complex when it involves a...
Our Regular and Frequent Visitors: Snow, Ice, and the Occupier’s Duty of Care
It’s tough being an occupier in Ontario. As if keeping a premises ‘reasonably safe’ was not hard enough, you must do so ‘in all the circumstances’ often while it feels like even the weather is conspiring against you. This is...
Membership has its Privileges: Expanding Priority – Are Car-Share Insurers Sharing more than they Thought?
The car-share model is coming of age in many urban centres. The attractions of the car-share concept include reduced urban traffic congestion, generational mind shifts about car ownership, increasing costs of personal vehicle ownership and environmental sustainability. According to recent...
