Ontario Acts on Marshall Report with New Changes to Auto Insurance
The Ontario government announced its latest round of changes to automobile insurance, called the Fair Auto Insurance Plan. This follows on the heels of the report by David Marshall, Ontario’s advisor on auto insurance, who released a report in April...
Active/Passive Income not an IRB Consideration
In the recent LAT decision of A.S. and Economical Insurance (16-003197/AABS), Adjudicator Robert Watt held that an insurer is entitled to deduct post-accident income from a claimant’s business in determining an Income Replacement Benefit amount under the Statutory Accident Benefits...
The LAT CAT’s First Life
The LAT CAT is now out of the bag with the recent release of one of the Licence Appeal Tribunal’s most comprehensive CAT decisions in A.R. v. Allstate (Tribunal File No. 16-003415, January 5, 2018). The 31 page decision was...
2017: A Year in Review and a Look Ahead
As 2017 comes to a close, it is a good time to take a look back at changes and developments in the law that will affect how adjusters handle claims going forward. In one of the year’s most anticipated decision,...
Will Ontarians be Permitted to Traffic in Life Policies
Bill 162, Insurance Amendment Act (Life Settlements), 2017
Life settlements, also known as trafficking or trading in life insurance policies, involve the disposition by the insured of all rights under a life insurance policy to a third party in exchange for a cash payment. This payment is frequently...
WAGG Motions – don’t forget the audio recordings
Wagg motions refer to motions for the production of police or Crown documents. They are referred to as Wagg motions because of the case of D.P. v. Wagg (“Wagg”), which sets out the process to be followed when seeking these...
Deciphering the Duty to Defend
The Court of Appeal for Ontario recently considered an Ontario Superior Court judge’s decision regarding an insurer’s duty to defend in the context of a maintenance contract. In August 2013, a worker employed by the landscaping company Lafleur de la...
Automatic Vicarious Liability of Owner Only Applies to Accidents on Highways
One of the first lessons that any student of personal injury law learns is that an owner of a motor vehicle is vicariously liable for the negligence of the vehicle’s operator. This vicarious liability is imposed by s. 192(2) of...
And the Times They Are A’Changing The Evolution of Insurance Coverage for Medical Marijuana – Update
In our previous publication[1], we discussed the incremental extension of coverage for medical marijuana under various types of insurance benefit plans and recent caselaw regarding insurer funding for medical marijuana. By way of update, Skinner v. Board of Trustees of...
Intentional Acts, Artful Pleading and the Duty to Defend in British Columbia
The recent Supreme Court of British Columbia case of Co-operators General Insurance Company v. Kane, 2017 BCSC 1720 confirms the broad manner in which British Columbia courts interpret the duty to defend, and the extent to which that duty can...
